BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Another offensive onslaught saw Auburn (8-2, 0-0) breeze past Samford (4-6, 0-0) in four sets, 3-1 (23-25, 25-12, 25-13, 25-14) on Friday night in the Pete Hanna Center.
The home side came to play in the opening frame. Auburn wasn’t able to find a rhythm defensively as the Bulldogs hit for .333, compared to the Tigers’ .194.
Despite six kills from Lauren Dreves, too many unforced errors meant the Orange and Blue played from behind to begin the match.
An uptick in service pressure was just what the doctor ordered for head coach Brent Crouch and Co. Auburn began the second set on an 8-2 run that saw Kalei Edson deliver the first of four aces during the evening and Baileigh Carlsen record the first of her career.
Keeping Samford out of system, defense turned into offense as Edson and fellow setter Shanelle Puetz directed an offense that hit an incredible .519 in set No. 2.
The even distribution kept Samford guessing for the rest of the night. Bel Zimmerman added four kills in the second, while Dreves, Liz Markovska and Eden Bower all collected three apiece. Combined with Kate Mansfield’s two blocks, bringing her to 100 for her career, the Tigers easily cruised to a set win to even the match.
Identifying and executing the serving plan paved the way to a relatively low-stress night for Crouch. Edson’s four aces paved the way, but Markovska added three of her own, Carlsen collected a pair and even Dreves added one to total 10 for the team. It was the second time this season Auburn has reached double digits in aces.
Markovska’s second ace of the evening pushed the senior over 1,000 career points.
The Orange and Blue block made it nearly impossible for the Bulldogs to mount a comeback in the third set. Dreves, Zimmerman, Grace Havlicek and Markovska all notched multiple rejections to ultimately give the Tigers the lead, 2-1.
It was full pedal to the metal in set four for Auburn.
Superb passing saw the offense hit an even .500, four blocks from Zimmerman and three from Havlicek highlighted another five-block frame and two Edson aces pieced together a vintage Auburn effort to keep the Bulldogs in low numbers.
When the dust settled, the Tigers earned their second victory of the Alabama Showdown, 3-1, with only South Alabama remaining on Saturday.
WHAT CROUCH HAD TO SAY
Head coach, Brent Crouch
“We made far too many mental mistakes in that first set. But when we settled down and kept the ball in the court, good things happened. We just have to stay in rallies sometimes. Credit to the team, though. I asked them to make the adjustment and they did. They hit their serving targets, our transition offense got much better and we were far better defensively. This is a long week of matches and it can be difficult to stay focused. We have one more test tomorrow and then we can reset for SEC play.”
MATCH NOTES
- Auburn hit .400 for the match, marking the second time this season the Tigers have reached .400 and the sixth time they’ve eclipsed .300
- Auburn’s 10 aces were the most since recording 10 against Jackson State on Sept. 5, and marked the second time this season the Tigers have reached double digits
- Auburn recorded 13 total team blocks, marking the sixth time this season the Tigers have reached double digits
- Auburn held Samford to .128 hitting, marking the eighth time this season the Tigers have held their opponent below .200
- Lauren Dreves (15 kills) reached double digits for the ninth time in 10 matches this season
- Dreves’ .361 hitting percentage also marked the seventh time she has eclipsed .300 in a match this season
- Baileigh Carlsen (2 aces) recorded her first aces of her career on Friday
- Kate Mansfield (5 blocks) has recorded at least four blocks in eight of the 10 matches this season
- Bel Zimmerman set a career high in blocks with seven.
- Zimmerman also notched season-highs in kills (12) and hitting percentage (.556)
- Alexis Dacosta (19 digs) has reached double digits in nine of the 10 matches this season
- Grace Havlicek (7 blocks) tied her season high and has now recorded at least four blocks in seven matches this season
- Liz Markovska reached 1,000 career points
- Markovska also set a season-high in aces with three. With 12 kills, she has also reached double digits in eight matches this season