AUBURN, Ala. – Two matches, two victories and two sweeps, the Auburn faithful couldn’t have asked much more of the Tigers on opening day. The Orange and Blue made quick work of both North Alabama, 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-23) and Georgia Southern (25-19, 25-14, 27-25) to kick off the season on the right foot.
Game 1
Auburn 3, North Alabama 0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-23)
Led by junior transfer Alexis Dacosta, Auburn’s back row defense got plenty of work as the Tigers ran down 72 total digs to outpace the Lions in straight sets, 3-0.
Head coach Brent Crouch’s crew took a few points to get in the swing of things, trailing by as many as six points in the opening frame. It was graduate right side Bella Bell, though, who turned the tide for the Orange and Blue.
The Blythewood, South Carolina product was virtually unstoppable in the front row. Bell put down seven kills on just 10 swings with zero errors. Combined with a 6-0 run midway through the frame, Auburn was able to run away from the Lions to take the early lead.
Set No. 2 featured more of the same. Bell was busy doing Bella Bell things (5 kills) while junior Madison Scheer added four of her own as Auburn kicked off the set on a 7-0 run.
Freshman middle blocker and Alabama native Emma Moore delivered two rejections. Moore finished with a team-high seven blocks in the morning.
Red-shirt Junior Peyton Dunn and freshman Kalei Edson spread the wealth brilliantly in the third set. Lauren Dreves led all attackers with four kills and Bel Zimmerman was close behind with three. Scheer and Bell each collected a pair of kills as well.
The story of the third set was the Tigers’ front-row defense. Moore piled up four big blocks as both Zimmerman and Scheer collected two of their own. Late in the set, it was the block that propelled Auburn over the hump and delivered Auburn’s first sweep of the season.
Game 1 Notes
- Head coach Brent Crouch has now won four straight season-openers
- Crouch is now 10-0 in the month of August
- With the sweep, Auburn has beaten North Alabama in straight sets in each of the last five meetings
- Auburn’s 72 digs were the most in a three-set match since picking up 77 last season at Mississippi State and the most in a three-set match since the Tigers had 76 at Ole Miss in 2007
- Auburn improves to 15-2 over the past two seasons when holding its opponent below .200 hitting
- Lauren Dreves, Kalei Edson, Emma Moore and Alexis Dacosta all made their Auburn debut
- Dacosta’s 21 digs set a new career high for the junior
Game 2
Auburn 3, Georgia Southern 0 (25-19, 25-14, 27-25)
Energized by a nearly seven-hour break and over 1,000 Auburn fans inside Neville, the Tigers jumped on Georgia Southern quickly and never looked back, securing the second sweep of the day, 3-0, over the Eagles.
Early and often it was the service line that put the Orange and Blue on the front foot. Fallan Lanham was the first of the Auburn servers to throw Georgia Southern out of system. Translating into easy digs, the Tiger offense transitioned brilliantly to hit .353 in the opening frame.
Amongst the numerous Auburn attackers feasting on the sets of Kalei Edson and Peyton Dunn, Bel Zimmerman found the most success on the right side. In the first set alone, Zimmerman racked up seven kills on eight swings. The Liberty, Missouri product would finish with 14 on an impressive .407 hitting percentage.
Edson’s serving prowess shone the brightest in the second frame. The freshman from Centralia, Illinois put down the first two aces of her career while running down six digs. When all the dust settled, Edson emerged with her first career double-double (19 assists, 14 digs).
Zimmerman and Co. continued to swing at will but Auburn’s defense kept flexing its muscles throughout. Fresh off a career performance in the morning’s sweep over North Alabama, Alexis Dacosta led the way with seven digs in the second set alone. In fact, the Tigers stacked up 27 digs in set no. 2 to hold the Eagles to just .022 hitting.
Georgia Southern wasn’t going to go down without a fight, though. The Eagles led by as many as four, 13-9, before Crouch’s Tigers decided it was time to step on the gas.
Fueled by the human energizer bunny that is Chelsey McCurdy, Auburn took the lead back at 15-14. McCurdy was the main spark plug in it all, picking up a solo block, slamming home an overpass and combining with Bella Bell and Madison Scheer for a block to take back the lead.
The Tigers’ five team blocks, including two from the freshman Emma Moore, coupled with five kills from Madison Scheer put the final frame to bed and solidified a perfect opening day of volleyball.
Game 2 Notes
- Head coach Brent Crouch is now 11-0 in the month of August
- Auburn improves to 16-2 over the past two seasons when holding its opponents under .200 hitting
- The Tigers are now 17-3 over the last two years when hitting at least .200 or more
- Kalei Edson picked up her first career double-double (19 assists, 14 digs)
- Both Bel Zimmerman (14 kills) and Madison Scheer (11 kills) finished in double figures
- Lauren Dreves (10 digs) reached double digits for the second straight match
- Alexis Dacosta (15 digs) has started her Auburn career with at least 15 digs in both matches she’s played in
What Crouch had to say…
“I think we started off a little nervous this morning. We had the three freshmen out there playing, and there were definitely some nerves. They talked to me about it afterward. But they settled down and played much better volleyball this evening. Alexis Dacosta is also someone I thought played a little nervous this morning. She had a lot of digs but the way she played tonight is more what she’s capable of. She is just phenomenal.
Bel Zimmerman had a bit of an off morning. Tonight, she was hitting over .800 in the first set and finished with 14 kills. It was good to see the offense get going in the second match.
We were also much more comfortable serving in the second match. Fallan [Lanham] hit some really good serves, Kalei [Edson] really got on them, Peyton [Dunn] had some good ones and so did Alexis [Dacosta].”
On tomorrow’s matchup with Wofford…
“They are going to be a unique challenge. They are smaller and run a really fast offense, much faster than the teams we’ve played so far. We’re going to have to serve like we did tonight and maybe even a bit better. When they’re off the net, we’re not going to have any trouble but when they’re right on the net, they’ve got people running slides real fast and are going to present some problems.”