Auburn (18-5, 8-4) visited Texas A&M Sunday night winning a five-set match in which they were able to outlast the Aggies 3-2 (21-25, 25-19, 23-25, 25-22, 15-12). The Tigers were down a set in the match and were able to surge back and grab an important win.
The Tiger's offense was the difference for the team allowing for the five-set win. The team hit .320 as a team, with star Bella Bell hitting .429 with 11 kills. Akasha Anderson and Madison Scheerer each had 16 kills in the match teaching double-digit kills for the 17th and 18th time this season, respectively.
The win solidified Auburn’s 5-1 record in five-set matches this year highlighting the resilience of Coach Brent Crouch’s squad.
“I’m just so proud of the team. They keep working really hard and it’s paying off.” Crouch added after the game. “This team just doesn’t like to lose.”
Kyla Swanson had a big night for the Tigers with a .500 hit percentage and the addition of an impressive team-high eight blocks to her stat line.
The Tiger defense was in complement to the offense tonight with a solid 56 digs and 12 team blocks propelling the Tigers to the comeback win. Zoe Slaughter led the team with 10 digs propelling the team to a five-set, tough victory on the road.
“Really tough opponent and a really good win,” Crouch said after the impressive come-from-behind victory.
Points did not come early for Crouch’s squad, but the second set brought a new life to the team as they served tough and hit .464 in the second frame grabbing a convincing 25-19 win in the set.
Auburn went down in the match twice, the first time after the first set and the second time came after the third set, however, the Auburn offense did not give up putting up a big fourth set to force the fifth which they went on to win.
Anderson, Bell, and Scheer had all touched double digits in the blocks category by the halfway point of the must-win fourth set and it was certainly this help from the Auburn stars that pushed them to the two three-point wins in the final two sets.
Brent Crouch now has a 14-10 record in five-set games at Auburn and he will carry this record into another potential five-setter when the Tigers host the Wildcats of Kentucky on November 8th at Neville Arena, first serve will be at 6:30 p.m. and will be streaming on SECN+.
