BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Dominant from the opening serve, Auburn (7-2, 0-0) made quick work of UAB (6-4, 0-0) in three sets, 3-0 (25-20, 25-13, 25-16) inside the Pete Hanna Center on Thursday afternoon.
Offense was the name of the game in the opening set for the Tigers. Setters Shanelle Puetz and Kalei Edson directed an offense that hit .344 in set No. 1.
Sophomore outside hitter Lauren Dreves was the main beneficiary of the Orange and Blue’s solid passing. The Vancouver, Washington native put down five kills on her nine swings.
Middle blocker Kate Mansfield wasn’t far behind, securing four kills on five swings. Liz Markovska equaled Mansfield’s effort. Mansfield ended her afternoon with seven kills on .455 hitting and six blocks.
Combined with aces from Edson, Zoe Slaughter and Grace Havlicek, Auburn took the early lead, 1-0.
Remarkably, Auburn found a way to improve its performance in the second set. Stout receiving allowed Edson and Puetz to distribute quicker than ever. The Tigers hit .449 in the second frame behind six kills from both Dreves and Markovska.
Puetz’s 22 assists throughout the match gave the junior 1,000 for her career.
Auburn’s prolific outside duo would combine for 19 kills on 55 swings for an outstanding .418 hitting percentage.
Following a dominant second set, the Tigers made use of a 6-0 run to start the third with Slaughter at the service line.
Once again, Markovska and Dreves nearly mirrored each other’s efforts, both tallying four kills. Bel Zimmerman and Grace Havlicek each added a pair while Mansfield delivered her final two rejections to finish off the Blazers.
WHAT CROUCH HAD TO SAY
Head coach, Brent Crouch
“Very pleased to start this tournament off on the right foot. At times, you could see what the speed of our offense is capable of. That’s encouraging to see because we’ll be able to cause anyone problems if we can go that fast throughout the season. Credit to our passers for putting us in good positions in those moments. Certainly, a few things to tighten up as we go along this weekend. As I’ve said before, with limited practice time, they’ve had to adjust on the fly and learn from their mistakes in matches. They’ve done a good job of that over the past couple of weeks.”
MATCH NOTES
- Auburn held UAB to .149 hitting, marking the seventh time this season the Tigers have held their opponent below .200
- Auburn’s seven aces marked the most since delivering 10 against Virginia on Sept. 9, and marked the fourth time the Tigers have notched at least four in a match
- Auburn delivered its sixth sweep of the season
- The Tigers’ .398 hitting percentage signaled the fifth time Auburn has hit north of .300 this season
- Lauren Dreves (15 kills) reached double figures for the eighth time in nine matches
- Baileigh Carlsen made her collegiate debut
- Kate Mansfield (6 blocks) has now notched at least four blocks in seven of the nine matches this season
- Alexis Dacosta (10 digs) has reached double figures in eight of the nine matches this season
- Shanelle Puetz (22 assists) reached 1,000 assists for her career
- Liz Markovska (14 kills) has reached double figures in five straight matches