AUBURN, Ala. – For the second time in four days, Auburn (5-1, 0-0) will face an opponent from the ACC, hosting Florida State (3-2, 0-0) inside Neville Arena on Friday evening.
First serve is set for 6 p.m. CT, doors open at 5 p.m. CT. For those unable to make it to Neville Arena, the match will be streamed live on SEC Network Plus. Graham Doty and Kele Eveland will have the call.
IMPORTANT PARKING INFORMATION
Fans looking to attend Friday's match at Neville Arena are encouraged to park in the Neville Arena lot. Additional parking is available in the Campus Safety lot. Due to the football game, the Coliseum lot is unavailable on Friday.
QUICK HITS
Head coach Brent Crouch’s offense has continued to make strides this season. The Tigers managed a .333 hitting percentage on Tuesday against Virginia, marking the fourth time in six matches Auburn has hit north of .300. The Tigers' .295 hitting percentage for the season ranks third in the SEC entering Friday's contest.
Right side hitter Bel Zimmerman has been on a tear over the last week and a half. The Liberty, Missouri product hit an even .500 (9-1-16) against Virginia. Zimmerman has reached a .300 hitting percentage in each of the last three matches.
On the defensive side, the Orange and Blue held the Cavaliers to just .148 hitting in the Showdown at the Net. It was the fifth time in 2025 the Tigers held opponents below .200.
Most of the defensive prowess can be attributed to the Auburn blocking unit. The Tigers finished Tuesday's matchup with 10.5 total blocks. It was the third straight match Auburn has reached double digits this season. As a team, the Tigers are averaging a monstrous 3.24 blocks per set, the second-most in the Southeastern Conference and fifth in the country.
Middle blockers Kate Mansfield and Grace Havlicek have been front and center in the blocking effort. The duo has each notched at least four blocks in five of the six matches in 2025. Mansfield enters Friday averaging the second-most blocks per set (1.63) in the conference and 10th in the country.
Senior libero Alexis Dacosta has been equally solid in the back row. After a 10-dig performance on Wednesday, Dacosta has reached double digits in five of the six matches this season. Five of those matches have only gone three sets.
Lauren Dreves has been on a mission in the early parts of her sophomore campaign. The Vancouver, Washington native has reached double digits in kills in each of the six matches this season. Dreves is also averaging career highs in hitting percentage (.368), kills per set (4.21), blocks per set (0.63) and points per set (4.61).
SCOUTING FLORIDA STATE
Head coach Chris Poole has been at the helm of the Florida State program for 17 seasons. Poole enters the showdown with the Tigers with an impressive 392-137 record during his time in Tallahassee.
The Seminoles face their third SEC team in a week on Friday. Poole and Co. already swept South Carolina in a preseason tournament in Tampa, Florida. On Wednesday, Florida State fell in a five-set thriller on the road at Oklahoma.
Service pressure has been the name of the game for Florida State thus far in 2025. As a team, the Seminoles are averaging a robust 1.89 aces per set, the third-best mark in the ACC. Both Iane Henke and Kyleene Filmaua have been responsible for the damage. Henke averages 0.63 per set, while Filmaua is at 0.53.
The two outsides have also been dynamic on the offensive end. Henke sits fifth in the ACC in kills per set at 3.95. Filmaua isn't too far behind at 3.32. Both are also averaging north of 4.00 points per set.
Defensively, Delaney Ewing and Nenu Kpea have been rejecting attacks at a rate of 1.19 and 1.16 per set, respectively.
AUBURN-FLORIDA STATE SERIES
Florida State enters Friday with a 13-4-1 record over Auburn. However, the Tigers have won each of the last three meetings in four-set affairs. Last season, Crouch and Co. took down then-No. 15 Seminoles for the first of two top 25 victories in Neville Arena during 2025.