BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Auburn Tigers defeated Samford, South Alabama and UAB this weekend to sweep the Alabama Showdown. They beat the Blazers of UAB in straight sets and took down South Alabama and Samford three sets to one.
The first contest of the tournament saw the Tigers run away with the match in dominant fashion after splitting the first two sets with Samford. Freshman standout Lauren Dreves set a career-high in kills with 15, while also posting 16 digs. The double-double was the third of the season for the former Washington Gatorade Player of the Year.
Redshirt junior Peyton Dunn was another bright spot for the Tigers against the Bulldogs, dishing out 25 assists. After only appearing in two matches last season, Dunn has hit her stride in the new season.
Ending with a team hitting percentage of .254, it proved to be a solid start to the Tiger's trip north.
“I was happy with the way we started the match off,” head coach Brent Crouch said. “We came out with great energy and executed in the way that I wanted to see. I needed to challenge them after that second set a little bit and again, they responded.”
The Tigers faced the hosts of the event the following evening. There were no troubles for Auburn as they rolled to a three-set sweep of the UAB Blazers.
The star in the second match was junior outside hitter Madison Scheer. The Pre-Season All-SEC First Team selection racked up 16 kills on her 31 attempts. She ended the evening on a smoking .419 hitting percentage. The percentage was the second-highest in her career when going over 10 kills.
Freshman middle blocker Grace Havlicek saw her first action of the season against the Blazers and took full advantage. She finished with a team-high eight blocks in her first game in an Auburn uniform.
“Grace was able to step right in and give us a great presence at the net all night long,” Crouch said. “With her in, that means we played four freshmen tonight and I just think that speaks volumes for the future of this program.”
In the finale of the Alabama Showdown, the Tigers took care of business against the South Alabama Jaguars. Auburn dropped the first set before turning it on and winning the next three.
With her 11 kills in the match, graduate student Bella Bell reached a career milestone of 500 kills. She joined Scheer as the only other player on the active roster to achieve the feat.
Bell also set a season-high in blocks, rejecting eight swings from Jaguar hitters. The defense as a whole for the Tigers was stuffing. Auburn totaled 14 blocks and 92 digs, the most in a match since the 2021 season.
“Very proud of the team to go out and get three wins this weekend.” Crouch said. “This is a long, long week. It’s difficult to stay focused and energized through it all and they did a good job to stay engaged. Once we settled into the match defensively, we started to create some issues for them and were able to take control of the match. I’m looking forward to getting back to Neville, in front of our fans, to open SEC play against a really good opponent in Kentucky.”
With the three victories, the Tigers finished non-conference 10-1, the only loss coming at No. 17 Minnesota. In the last three seasons under coach Crouch, Auburn has only dropped two non-conference games.
A new season approaches, as SEC play and Kentucky await when the Tigers return to Auburn. The Tigers and Wildcats will open their SEC schedules Friday night, with first serve scheduled for 8 p.m. CT. Radio Coverage from WEGL 91.1 FM will begin at 7:45. The match will be available to watch on SEC Network.
