BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Auburn Tigers will continue their road trip at the end of this week with a trip to Birmingham for the Alabama Showdown. Auburn will match up against the Samford Bulldogs, UAB Blazers, and South Alabama Jaguars to close out their non-conference schedule.
Coach Crouch’s Tigers have enjoyed another great start, coming into the Alabama Showdown with a 7-1 record and a top-25 win. They are making their presence known defensively, ranking second in the SEC in blocks per set as a team with a mark of 2.90.
Familiar faces have led the attack for Auburn. Juniors Madison Scheer and Bel Zimmerman have both been thriving in the new 6-2 offense, totaling 91 and 82 kills, respectively. Zimmerman has done so while also hitting a scorching .277, a team-high percentage.
The newcomers have also been contributing factors for the orange and blue. Former Washington Gatorade Player of the Year Lauren Dreves has settled in nicely on the plains, playing the role of a six-rotation player. She now leads the team in digs and has tallied two double-doubles.
Samford Bulldogs:
The Bulldogs out of Birmingham are enjoying a 5-2 start to the season, already taking down SEC competition in the form of a five-set victory over Mississippi State. They will be coming into their matchup with the Tigers on a two-game slide, falling to LSU and Baylor this past weekend.
Through seven matches, two Samford attackers have been racking up kills. Redshirt sophomore Kaleigh Meritt already has 102 kills on a .329 hitting percentage. Senior outside hitter Gracie Lynn Butler is following close behind with 86 putaways.
Setter Lexi Thatcher is shining in her sophomore season. She has gone for over 40 assists in five of Samford’s seven matches.
Their match with the Tigers last season ended in a 3-1 victory for Auburn.
UAB Blazers:
UAB will enter the Alabama Showdown with a 5-3 overall record. Similar to Samford, the Blazers have also faced Mississippi State, losing that contest three sets to one. Other notable results include a 3-0 sweep over Cincinnati.
Similar to the Tigers, UAB is a very solid team on the block. Senior middle blocker Madison Page ranks third in the American Athletic Conference with 1.14 blocks per set, and the Blazers as a team also rank third in that category.
The Blazer offense is fueled by another attacker with over 100 kills this season. Sophomore opposite Jorda Crooks carries a stellar .313 hitting percentage while putting away 103 of her 233 attempts.
Another factor for the Blazers will be their serving. They have a great ace to error ratio, serving up 56 aces to their 51 errors.
Their match with the Tigers last season ended in a 3-1 victory for Auburn.
South Alabama Jaguars:
The Jaguars have not enjoyed as good a start as other teams in the Alabama Showdown, coming in with a less-than-stellar 2-5 record. Their notable matchups include three-set sweeps at the hands of Texas A&M and Georgia Tech.
The offense is spread out over a number of different hitters, with Abryanna Cannon, Sarah Gooch and Maradith O’Gorman having most of the team's kills.
Briana Wilson will do it defensively for South Alabama. The junior libero leads the team with 74 digs, and holds a nice .952 receive percentage.
Redshirt junior setter Anna Loberg will be dishing the ball out for the Jaguars. She will enter the Alabama Showdown with 181 assists and 10 service aces. She will have to be at her best for the South Alabama offense to click.
When these two faced off in the Alabama Showdown a season ago, the Tigers sweated out a come-from-behind five-set victory in Mobile.
The Alabama Showdown will start Thursday night as the Tigers will take on Samford. First serve in that game is set for 4 p.m. CT.
