BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Receiving impact performances up and down the roster, Auburn (9-1,0-0) took care of business inside Bartow Arena Friday evening, sweeping UAB (5-5, 0-0) to remain perfect at the Alabama Showdown.
Freshman Lauren Dreves notched her fourth double-double of 2024, Grace Havlicek stepped in and stepped up with eight monster blocks and Madison Scheer went for 16 kills on north of .400 hitting, all adding up to a 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-17) effort over the Blazers.
It took a minute for the Tigers to find their footing in the first set. Outside hitters Scheer and Dreves were determined to keep their team in it, though. Scheer powered down seven kills while Dreves followed with five of her own.
Stronger serving midway through the frame allowed Auburn to leapfrog into the lead. Alexis Dacosta dropped in two aces and the Tigers never looked back.
Finishing off the set in style, two major blocks, including one from true freshman Grace Havlicek meant Auburn had the one-set lead. Havlicek stepped in for the injured Emma Moore and the Tigers didn’t miss a beat in the middle.
Head coach Brent Crouch had his team firing on all cylinders in the second set. Three early blocks set the tone and the Orange and Blue remained unrelenting.
Havlicek piled up five more block assists. The Palm Beach Gardens product finished her Auburn debut with eight on the evening.
Meanwhile, the Tigers’ left side was downright lethal. Benefiting from sturdy passing, Scheer and Dreves drove down kill after kill. By the end of the second set, Scheer was up to 13 kills on an even .400. Dreves, on the other hand, put down four more kills on her six swings with zero errors.
Auburn’s defense carried over into the third. Chelsey McCurdy, Bella Bella and Bel Zimmerman all joined the block party. The Tigers would go on to finish with 11 total team blocks, marking the fifth time the Orange and Blue has reached double digits in 2024.
Zimmerman would also creep into double-digit kills (10) to along with her six blocks, tying her career-best.
Scheer stockpiled another three kills to bring her night’s total to a match-high 16 on an astronomical .419 hitting.
Fallan Lanham added five digs to the defensive effort in the third along with an ace. Lanham and the rest of the Auburn servers cranked up the pressure late in the set to keep the Blazers out of system and complete the sweep, 3-0.
Match Notes…
>> Auburn stacked up 11 total team blocks, marking the fifth time the Tigers have reached double digits this season
>> Auburn held UAB to .089 hitting, marking the first time the Tigers have held an opponent under .100 this season and the first time since holding Alabama to .075 last November
>> The Tigers have held opponents below .200 in nine of their 10 matches this season
>> Madison Scheer’s 16 kills were the most in a three-set match for Auburn this season
>> Lauren Dreves (10 kills, 10 digs) recorded her fourth double-double of the year
>> Bel Zimmerman’s six blocks were a season-high and tied her career-best
>> Grace Havlicek recorded eight blocks in her Auburn debut
What Crouch had to say
Opening statement…
“In that first set, we weren’t setting the block up in the right place. We went a little too far on both sides. UAB got a bunch of good swings in the first half of that set. Then, we slowly chipped back at it. In the second set, I felt like we had a good sense of where the sets were going and what the tempo was like. Ultimately, we were able to line up a bit better and do a bit more of what we’re used to.”
On Grace Havlicek stepping up…
“Grace was able to step right in and give us a great presence at the net all night long. With her in, that means we played four freshmen tonight and I just think that speaks volumes for the future of this program.”