OXFORD, Miss. – Finding production up and down the roster, Auburn (12-3, 3-1) bounced back in a major way, sweeping Ole Miss (9-6, 1-3) on the road in the Gillom Athletics Performance Center, 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-21).
Most of the opening set was played closely. The set featured nine ties and three lead changes.
Senior outside hitter Liz Markovska was the main offensive weapon for the Orange and Blue as Shanelle Puetz and Kalei Edson set up the Cal Poly transfer for four kills on her nine swings with zero errors.
The Rebels got as close as 21-20 before Auburn took advantage of several Ole Miss service errors. Combined with a pair of Markovska kills, the Tigers shot out to the early lead, 1-0.
Markovska finished the afternoon with a team-high 10 kills on .241 hitting and seven digs.
While Crouch’s crew didn’t record a block in the first set, the front show asserted themselves from the get-go in set two.
Lauren Dreves and Grace Havlicek combined for the rejection to open the scoring and Auburn never looked back.
Havlicek, along with fellow middle blocker Kate Mansfield, enjoyed a sizeable amount of success offensively on Sunday. Havlicek notched all three of her kills in the second set as the duo combined for seven kills on .429 hitting.
Behind three team blocks and three kills apiece from Dreves, Havlicek and Markovska, Auburn surged to a commanding two-set advantage.
Defense was the name of the game in the final set. Mansfield solidified four of her six blocks in the third set as Auburn combined for five more team blocks for eight total.
Despite nine more ties and three more lead changes, Auburn utilized timely blocking and three more kills from Dreves, Bel Zimmerman and Markovska to finish off the Tigers’ ninth sweep of the season and the third in SEC play.
WHAT CROUCH HAD TO SAY
Head Coach, Brent Crouch
“Extremely happy with how this team handled their business today. I don’t think the final score was truly indicative of how close that match was. Ole Miss is a very good team and this was a really important win for us. Credit to our team, though, for stepping up in key moments, particularly at the end of sets. We saw contributions across the board today and those are the kinds of things we’ll need as a team to continue to win matches in the SEC. Some days it’s going to be Lauren (Dreves), some days it’s Liz (Markovska), others might be Bel (Zimmerman) and Eden (Bower) on the right or Kate (Mansfield) and Grace (Havlivek) in the middle. Overall, very happy with the win and excited to get back in front of the Auburn Family on Friday.”
MATCH NOTES
- Auburn held Ole Miss to .139 hitting, marking the 12th time the Tigers have held their opponent below .200 this season
- Auburn hit .284 for the match, marking the third straight match the Tigers have hit above .280 and the 10th time Auburn has hit above .250 this season
- Kate Mansfield (6 blocks) has now notched at least five blocks in six straight matches and 11 times this season
- Liz Markovska (10 kills) has now reached double digits in four straight matches and 12 different times this season