AUBURN, Ala. – Fueled by a record 3,082 fans in attendance at Neville Arena, Auburn (12-1, 2-0) outlasted rival Alabama (8-5, 0-2) to complete a perfect weekend of volleyball, 3-1 (25-19, 15-25, 29-27, 25-22).
Defense was the name of the game in the opening set for the Tigers. While Bella Bell picked up where she left off from Friday evening with three early kills, it was Madison Scheer, Bel Zimmerman, Chelsey McCurdy and Grace Havlicek who all notched a pair of blocks to keep the Crimson Tide at bay.
Aces from Lauren Dreves and Peyton Dunn created the separation Auburn needed and with seven digs from Fallan Lanham and four from Alexis Dacosta, the home side raced out to the early lead, 25-19.
Rivalry matches are never without their ups and downs, though. Six errors from Tiger attackers put the Orange and Blue in a hole that was difficult to climb out of. Meanwhile, the Alabama offense swung for its highest percentage of the evening (.375).
Despite Lakin Laurendine jumping in to provide a spark near the tail end of the set, the Crimson Tide evened the match at one set apiece.
Laurendine and the Tigers weren’t going to let the droves of Auburn fans leave disappointed, though.
Igniting the crowd and their team, Scheer, Zimmerman and Laurendine found success down the lines. Peyton Dunn and Kalei Edson set their trio to the tune of 17 kills between the three of them.
Laurendine, the Jackson, Mississippi native finished the afternoon with a career-high 12 kills and 10 digs for her first double-double.
Still, Alabama wasn’t going away quietly. Brent Crouch’s crew needed to dig deep once more, facing two set points at 22-24. Scheer and Zimmerman made sure to push the set into extra points. As the defense continued to make life difficult, Auburn finally found the deciding blow to take the set, 29-27, and the lead, two sets to one.
The fourth frame was Auburn’s cleanest set of volleyball all afternoon. Nearly every front-row player contributed to the blocking effort as the Tigers claimed three more, finishing with 11 on the evening as a team.
Scheer snagged four more kills with zero errors to end her match with 11 on a .310 hitting percentage. Bell and Laurendine both racked up five of their own.
It all added up to a .371 hitting percentage and a four-set victory over the Crimson Tide, the eighth straight win for the Tigers of their rivals.
Match Notes
- Auburn’s win over Alabama is the program’s eighth straight and the seventh straight win for head coach Brent Crouch
- The 3,082 fans in attendance was a program record, previous was versus Arkansas on Nov. 25, 2023 (2,711)
- Auburn’s 11 total blocks marked the eighth time the Tigers have reached double digits this season
- Madison Scheer (11 kills) reached double digits for the 10th time in 2024
- Bella Bell (12 kills) reached double digits for the sixth match this season and third match in a row
- Bel Zimmerman (10 kills) reached double digits for the seventh time in 2024
- Alexis Dacosta (15 digs) eclipsed double digits for the ninth time this season
- Lakin Laurendine posted career-highs in kills (12) and digs (10) to notch her first double-double
What Crouch had to Say
Opening statement…
“I thought we played kind of medium. I think Alabama has improved a lot since last year. I was a little worried about a Kentucky hangover. I’m not in their heads but maybe that’s what was going on. We didn’t play well in the first set but won. Sometimes that’s the worst thing that can happen. Did not play well, obviously, in the second set and made some changes. Brought in Lakin (Laurendine), who did great, and Zoe (Slaughter). Lakin I wanted to get in because Lauren (Dreves) was not having her greatest hitting day and we needed to shake things up. After that we hit .318, we hit .371, we still had a hard time defensively, especially with their outsides. But I’m glad that we responded the way we did. A little hiccup late in the fourth set to close it but we had a good enough lead where it was ok. Look, it’s hard to win in this league, it’s certainly hard. When you’re playing Alabama, it doesn’t really matter if they’re good or bad, it’s just a meaningful match. So to get out with a win, I’m happy with that.”