FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Auburn volleyball completed the reverse sweep over Arkansas, winning its opening match of Southeastern Conference play. The win extends the Tigers’ win streak to eight matches, the second-longest under Head Coach Brent Crouch.
Belle Patrick led the Auburn attack with a career-high 29 kills, the second most by an Auburn Tiger in the rally-scoring era (2001-present). Patrick added to her night with nine digs, two aces, a block, and a perfect reception percentage on 32 opportunities.
In set one, the Tigers narrowly led into the media timeout, up 15-13, after a tightly contested opening to the match. Arkansas went on a six-point run out of the media timeout, forcing Auburn to burn both of its timeouts, down 19-15. The Tigers pulled within two points of the Razorbacks at 23-21, but a pair of Arkansas points closed out the set, 25-21. Auburn gave Arkansas 14 points in the set, coming off errors, including five from the service line.
Following the first-set loss, Lauren Dreves came off the bench, making her first appearance after missing seven matches due to an illness. Three kills by Arkansas’s Romani Thurman put the Razorbacks up 4-1 early in the set, but three kills by Patrick spearheaded a 10-3 run for Auburn, taking an 11-7 lead. Auburn carried a 15-12 lead into the media timeout, then extended the lead on Arkansas errors and a Patrick kill to 18-12. Arkansas went on a 9-2 run, taking a 22-21 lead, in large part to six Auburn errors during the stretch. Auburn returned with a pair of points to take a 23-22 lead, but three consecutive points gave the Razorbacks the set and a 2-0 lead. Auburn hit .028 in the set with 10 kills and nine errors on 36 attempts.
Auburn pulled away from Arkansas early in the set, up 12-8, but a four-point run by Arkansas flipped the set, giving Arkansas a short lead before Auburn led at the media timeout, 15-14. A pair of Arkansas errors and a Patrick kill put Auburn up 18-15, then up 21-16 later in the set on a Grace Havlicek kill. Arkansas began another comeback, going on an 8-2 run and serving on match point at 24-23. Auburn survived the match-point threat with a kill from Dreves, then held set point themselves after an Arkansas error. Auburn and Arkansas traded points until another Dreves kill, combined with a Razorback error, gave Auburn the 28-26 set victory. Patrick recorded seven kills in the set.
With momentum on their side, Auburn led for the majority of the fourth set, taking a 15-12 lead into the media timeout. Auburn extended its lead to 21-15 on another Patrick kill. Havlicek clinched the set for Auburn with her second kill of the set, winning 25-19. Patrick led Auburn with seven kills on 15 attempts in the set, also logging a team-leading five digs.
Auburn dominated the fifth set, forcing an Arkansas timeout with an 8-2 lead. Patrick recorded a kill on four consecutive points. Holding match point at 14-7, Auburn allowed back-to-back Arkansas points in a last effort by the Razorbacks. Dreves turned away the Arkansas hopeful, capping off the Tigers' first reverse sweep victory of the season, starting 1-0 in SEC play.
NOTABLES
- Patrick’s 29 kills were tied for the second most kills by an Auburn player in the rally-scoring era (since 2001). The 29 kills were the ninth most ever by a Tiger in a match.
- The 29 kills by Patrick are the ninth most by a DI player in a match this season; second-most by an SEC player this season.
- The reverse sweep is Auburn’s first since Nov. 22, 2025, vs Oklahoma.
- The Tigers extended their win streak to eight matches, tied for the fifth-longest in program history and the second-longest under Crouch.
- Auburn won its SEC opener for the third consecutive year.
- Auburn played five sets for the first time in 2026.
- Auburn set multiple season-highs in the first five-setter of the year: attack attempts (180), assists (62), and digs (82).
- Emily Keiran set a career high with 24 digs and two aces.
- Carson Eickenloff tied her career high with 14 digs.
- Dreves made her first appearance for Auburn after missing seven-straight matches.
TIGER STANDOUTS
- Patrick logged a career-high 29 kills. Patrick also claimed two points from the service line in addition to nine digs, a block, and 32 errorless receptions.
- Shanelle Puetz led Auburn with 33 assists, the first time this season she has outright led the Tigers in assists. Puetz also logged three blocks and three kills.
- Havlicek recorded her third straight match with double-digit kills, tallying 10 against the Razorbacks. Havlicek also stuffed the Arkansas attack three times.
- Keiran set a career-high with 24 digs, leading Auburn. Keiran was also perfect on serve receive, going 21-for-21.
- Symone Sims led Auburn with three aces. Syms also logged 12 digs and a perfect 14-for-14 night on serve receive.
- Kate Mansfield led the Tigers with four blocks. Mansfield also added five kills to her night.
HEAD COACH CROUCH
- “Not the situation we wanted to be in to start conference play, but any time you’re able to win three-straight sets, you have to feel pretty good in the moment. I’m proud of the fight and grit from our team in the late sets. We’ll have to work on everything that put us in that situation, and clean up our game ahead of Kentucky and Tennessee.”
UP NEXT
- Auburn returns home to Neville Arena next weekend, hosting No. 3 Kentucky and No. 13 Tennessee. The Tigers welcome Kentucky to Auburn on Friday, October 2 for a 6 p.m. CT first serve. Auburn and Tennessee are set for a 2 p.m. CT first serve on Sunday, October 4.
—War Eagle—