AUBURN, Ala. — Auburn closed out the Alabama Showdown with a 3-1 win over South Alabama. After splitting the first two sets, Auburn pulled out a tight third-set victory, then carried momentum into a strong 25-13 set win to clinch the victory and end the non-conference slate 10-2. Grace Havlicek powered Auburn on both sides of the net, leading Auburn with a .545 hitting percentage with 14 kills on 22 attempts. Havlicek led Auburn with seven blocks. The Tiger back line was strong with four different Tigers recording double-digit digs.
Set one opened with either team trading points, giving South Alabama a 11-9 lead. A pair of kills and a Macy McAmis ace drove a three-point Auburn run to give the Tigers a 12-11 lead. After Auburn held its narrow lead to 16-14, South Alabama went on a four-point run to take the lead and force an Auburn timeout. The Tigers exploded out of the timeout with a 7-1 run, up 23-19. South Alabama battled back with a 4-1 run, pulling within one point, but an Auburn timeout reset the momentum, giving the Tigers the set-clinching point.
South Alabama jumped out to a big 6-1 lead to open the second set. The Jaguars held onto their lead for a while, up 12-6 before Auburn went on a five-point run to pull within a point. Kills by Anastasija Ivkovic and Kate Mansfield, plus another McAmis ace, overcame the Jaguar lead to go up 15-14 into the media timeout. South Alabama shut down the Tiger offense, blocking Auburn three times, plus forcing a pair of attack errors on an eight-point run to take a 23-17 lead. Another South Alabama block gave the Jaguars set point before an Auburn service error clinched the set for South Alabama.
Set three was evenly matched after a three-point South Alabama run tied the set out of the media timeout, 15-15. Neither squad led by more than two points until a three-point Auburn run, powered by back-to-back Ivkovic kills, ended the set 25-21 for Auburn.
Auburn took a 4-1 lead to open the fourth set, but South Alabama battled back with a three-point run to take an 8-7 lead on back-to-back kills and a block. Auburn began to pull away in the set with a 9-2 run, highlighted by two Havlicek kills and an ace. The Tigers continued to dominate with a five-point run, featuring two Belle Patrick kills, a Symone Sims kill, and another McAmis ace. The Tigers won the match on a block from Havlicek and Shanelle Puetz.
NOTABLES
- Havlicek’s 14 kills were a career high on a career-high 22 attempts. Havlicek’s two assists were a career high.
- Carson Eickenloff set a career-high with 14 digs. Eickenloff’s 27 assists were the most since Sept. 2 vs Minnesota.
- Sims’s 17 digs were a new high in an Auburn uniform.
- McAmis’s 11 digs and three aces were both career highs.
- Kate Mansfield recorded 13 kills, her season high.
- Puetz tied her season-high set yesterday with 19 assists.
- Ivkovic’s 12 kills continue her four-match streak with double-digit kills. Ivkovic has recorded three or more blocks in seven consecutive matches.
- Patrick attacked a career-high 53 times. Patrick’s eight digs were her most since Sept. 3 at Wisconsin.
- Havlicek (.545) and Mansfield (.440) logged the second and third-best hitting percentages by qualified Tigers in a match this season.
- The Tigers tallied 70 digs, the most in a match in 2026.
- Auburn’s 61 kills were the second most in a match this season.
- South Alabama blocked Auburn 14 times, the most an opponent has done so this season.
TIGER STANDOUTS
- Havlicek recorded 14 kills on 22 attempts, hitting .545. Havlicek tallied seven blocks.
- Patrick led the Tigers with 15 kills. Patrick also logged eight digs.
- Sims led Auburn with 16 digs.
- Mansfield hit .440 with 13 kills on 25 attempts.
- Ivkovic recorded 12 kills on 27 attempts. Ivkovic added four blocks to her match totals.
- McAmis set a career-high with three aces and 11 digs.
- Eickenloff led Auburn with 27 assists.
HEAD COACH BRENT CROUCH
- “Our back row was awesome today, they kept everything off the ground for us with 69 digs. We had four players with double-digit digs, which you just don’t get to see a whole lot. The passing helped out Carson and Shanelle a ton, both of them had a great match.
Grace has been amazing for us recently with 14 kills and seven blocks. It’s great knowing, having the confidence that she’s always going to be great at the net.
UP NEXT
- Auburn opens Southeastern Conference play on Friday, Sept. 25 at 7 p.m. at Arkansas. The Tigers will return home the next week to host ranked Kentucky and Tennessee.
—War Eagle—