AUBURN, Ala. – Following a brief road stint, Auburn (14-9, 4-8) returns to Neville Arena on Friday, Nov. 15 for a meeting with No. 14 Texas (13-6, 8-3).
First serve is slated for 6:30 p.m. CT and the doors will open one hour prior to the match. For those unable to make it to the Plains, the match will also be streamed live on SEC Network Plus.
Friday also marks the Tigers’ annual Military Appreciation match along with Alumni Day.
QUICK HITS
Head coach Brent Crouch prides himself in defense. As a team, the Tigers are near the top of the Southeastern Conference in nearly every defense statistical category. Auburn ranks second in both blocks per set (2.66) and total blocks (231.5). Meanwhile, the back row is also second in digs per set (16.06) and total digs (1,397). When combining the two, the Tigers are holding opponents to just .193 hitting, the fifth-best mark in the conference.
Leading the effort at the net is graduate middle blocker Chelsey McCurdy. The Puyallup, Washington native paces the team in blocks per set (1.18). The Orange and Blue boast five players with more than 50 blocks this season.
In the back row, it's been the combination of junior Alexis Dacosta and freshman Lauren Dreves. Dacosta, the Baylor transfer, sits seventh in the SEC in total digs (311) and leads the squad with 3.75 per set. Meanwhile, rookie sensation Dreves is running down digs at a rate of 3.29 per set, the most among freshman outside hitters in the conference.
Setters Peyton Dunn and Kalei Edson have been distributing the offense at a rate unseen on the plains. Madison Scheer, Bel Zimmerman and Bella Bell are all securing more than 2.5 kills per set. Scheer leads the way at 3.40 per set, while Zimmerman (2.78) and Bell (2.55) aren't far behind.
If the season ended today, Scheer would set single-season career highs in kills per set (3.40), digs per set (0.70), blocks per set (0.74) and points per set (3.84). Scheer has also picked up momentum at the service line, grabbing five aces over her last seven matches, including two against No. 22 Florida.
Freshman Emma Moore was back in the lineup on Friday in Gainesville and the Tigers welcome her blocking presence. The Mobile native was averaging 1.21 per match before her injury.
LAST TIME OUT
Madison Scheer snagged a career-best two aces to go along with nine kills in Gainesville. However, the Tigers weren't able to get past No. 22 Florida, falling in three sets.
SCOUTING TEXAS
Jerritt Elliott is in his 24th season as head coach of the University of Texas volleyball program. Under his leadership, the Longhorns have captured three national championships and is the winningest coach in program history.
After securing the second of back-to-back National Championships, Texas currently leads the conference with an 8-3 record in league play. The team was on a three-match losing streak with losses to Texas A&M, Missouri and Oklahoma before righting the ship at Mississippi State last week.
Texas' impact duo of Reagan Rutherford and Madisen Skinner have both been named to the AVCA Division I National Player of the Year Watch List. Rutherford, a transfer from Kentucky, was an All-SEC selection and set a career-high with 386 kills during the 2022 season. Skinner, the reigning Final Four MVP from a season ago, leads her team in kills per set (3.86) and points per set (4.38).
Redshirt sophomore middle blocker Marianna Singletary earned SEC Player of the Week honors for the second time this season on October 21. She has also made history by being named SEC Defensive Player of the Week for three consecutive weeks, the first player to do so in the SEC.
AUBURN-TEXAS SERIES
Friday night will mark just the second meeting between the Tigers and Longhorns and the first such battle in the 25-point rally-scoring era. Texas took the first and only meeting in 2001, a four-set affair in Austin.