AUBURN, Ala. – Three players finished in double figures as Auburn (13-3, 4-1) found enough firepower to topple Vanderbilt (5-9, 1-4) in four sets, 3-1 (18-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-22), on Friday evening in Neville Arena.
The visitors came out firing early and often. Vanderbilt hit a massive .400 in the opening frame.
Despite five kills from Liz Markovska, three from Lauren Dreves and an ace from Bella Humphrey, the Tigers couldn’t find the right buttons to press to track down the Commodores.
Down one set to none, head coach Brent Crouch and Co. started to make adjustments, particularly on the offensive end.
Markovska slammed home five more kills as better passing gave setters Shanelle Puetz and Kalei Edson more options to choose from.
Edson would collect a career-best 16 digs along with her 24 assists to notch her second double-double of the season.
The middle and the right side quickly became effective areas for the Orange and Blue to exploit. Bel Zimmerman and Kate Mansfield combined for five kills on eight swings as the Auburn offense hit .333 in the second set.
Crouch’s defense also started to take steps forward in the second stanza. After failing to record a block in the opening set, Auburn collected three rejections in the second, getting assists from Dreves, Mansfield, Havlicek and Markovska.
Havlicek’s second block of the night was the 100th of her career.
Taking advantage of six service errors, the Tigers evened the match at one set apiece.
Momentum in hand, Auburn went full throttle in the third set. Serving runs from Edson, Humphrey and Dreves pushed the Tigers to a sizeable lead. One they wouldn’t relinquish.
Zimmerman found four of her 11 kills in the third set as Dreves contributed four of her own. Mansfield added four blocks on the defensive end to limit Vanderbilt to just .059 hitting, taking the lead 2-1.
Fans inside Neville Arena saw contributions up and down the roster in the fourth set. Zimmerman added another four kills, and Dreves, Havlicek and Markovska all tallied three.
It was Alexis Dacosta’s digging prowess that was most noteworthy, though. Dacosta tied her career high with 25 digs. However, 16 of those came in the fourth set alone. Her play in the back row, combined with solid offense, proved too much for Vanderbilt to handle as Auburn stayed perfect at home with the 3-1 victory.
WHAT CROUCH HAD TO SAY
Head Coach, Brent Crouch
“Let me just say, it’s so hard to get wins in this conference. I genuinely feel every single team in this conference is capable of getting wins on any given night. Tonight was no different. Vanderbilt is a talented, athletic, well-coached team and I know they’ll win matches going forward.
“For us, we’ve continued to find ways to win matches. That’s been one of the most impressive things about this roster. We made a few adjustments offensively after the first set and the team responded. They were doing a good job keying in on our left sides, so we asked our middles and right sides to take a heavier load. They answered the call and that’s a big reason why we earned this victory.”
MATCH NOTES
- Auburn’s five aces were the most since recording 10 against Samford on Sept. 19. The Tigers have tallied at least four aces in eight matches this season.
- Lauren Dreves (10 kills) has reached double digits in 14 matches this season
- Kalei Edson (24 assists, 16 digs) notched her second double-double of the season
- Kate Mansfield (6 blocks) has recorded at least five blocks in eight straight matches and has done so 13 different times this season
- Bel Zimmerman (11 kills) reached double digits for the third time this season
- Alexis Dacosta (25 digs) tied her career high
- Bella Humphrey (2 aces) set a new career best
- Liz Markovska (14 kills) reached double digits for the fifth straight match and the 13th time this season