FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Behind two double-doubles and a team-high 18 kills from Bella Bell, Auburn (14-8, 4-7) nearly pulled off the win at Arkansas (15-7, 5-5). However, a late rally from the home side saw the Razorbacks take the match, 3-2 (23-25, 19-25, 25-23, 25-20, 15-11).
Early and often it was the Orange and Blue block that made their presence known inside Barnhill Arena.
Behind three rejections from Bella Bell alone, the Tigers held the Razorbacks to just .200 hitting in the opening frame.
Chelsey McCurdy and Jasmine Okeoma also joined the block party as Auburn finished with four total team blocks. When all of the dust settled, Auburn secured 15.0 total team blocks, the third most in any match this season.
Stout serving also set up the Tigers well. Both Lakin Laurendine and Kalei Edson secured aces to keep Arkansas off balance.
Offensively, converted middle blocker Bella Bella was hammering down kills left and right. The Blythewood, South Carolina product finished with six kills on her 10 swings with zero errors to lead Auburn to an opening set win, 25-23.
Bell stayed hot through the second stanza. In fact, both of Brent Crouch’s right sides were outstanding. By the time the second set ended, Bell had piled up 11 kills on .647 hitting. Meanwhile, her counterpart Bel Zimmerman had amassed six kills of her on an even .500 hitting percentage.
Bell would end the afternoon with 18 kills and a season-high nine blocks, one shy of a double-double.
Peyton Dunn and Kalei Edson were directing an offense that hit .351 in the frame. Dunn was everywhere on Sunday, notching her team-leading eighth double-double with 30 assists and 11 digs.
It took a moment for the defense to click in but once it did, Auburn ran away with the second set. Even though the likes of McCurdy, Okeoma and Bell weren’t putting down the number of blocks they had in the first set, Alexis Dacosta, Zoe Slaughter, Fallan Lanham and the rest of the back row were putting in the work, allowing the offense to earn transition kill after transition kill.
For the fourth time in 2024, Dacosta would eclipse the 20-dig marking, running down a match-high 23.
In the end, the Orange and Blue held the Razorbacks to just .171 hitting and took a commanding, 2-0, lead.
Auburn kickstarted the third set with a massive 7-1 run and led by as many as 13-3 thanks to a trio of massive blocks.
Arkansas wasn’t going to go away quietly, though. Thanks to some strong serving, the Razorbacks were able to bring themselves all the way back and force a fourth set.
It took a minute for the Tigers’ offense to start clicking in the fourth. With strong serving from Arkansas, it was an uphill battle all set long. Auburn, however, did manage a 5-2 run at the end of the set to try to swing the momentum.
Lakin Laurendine kicked off the fifth with an ace to get things going. Laurendine, the redshirt freshman from Jackson, Mississippi would record her second-career double-double, finishing with 10 kills and a career-best 16 digs.
While Auburn managed a respectable .235 hitting percentage in the final set, it could not slow down Arkansas, falling 3-2.
MATCH NOTES
- Auburn’s 15.0 blocks were the third-most in any single match this season
- Madison Scheer (14 kills) reached double digits for the 15th straight match
- Bella Bell’s nine blocks were a season-high
- Peyton Dunn (30 assists, 11 digs) notched her team-leading eighth double-double for the season
- Zoe Slaughter’s 10 digs were a season-high
- Bel Zimmerman (13 kills) reached double digits for the 15th time in 2024
- Alexis Dacosta (23 digs) reached the 20-dig mark for the fourth time this season
- Lakin Laurendine (10 kills, 16 digs) recorded her second-career double-double
- Laurendine’s 16 digs were a career best