Record crowd gives the Tigers their eighth win in a row against Alabama – Auburn Tigers

AUBURN, Ala. – Powered by a record 3,082 crowd at Neville Arena, Auburn (12-1, 2-0) edged rival Alabama (8-5, 0-2) to complete a perfect volleyball weekend 3-1 (25 -19, 15-25, 29-27, 25-22).

Defense was the name of the game in the Tigers' opening set. While Bella Bell picked up where she left off Friday night with three early kills, it was Madison Scheer, Bel Zimmerman, Chelsey McCurdy and Grace Havlicek who all scored two blocks to go the extra mile To keep the Crimson Tide at bay.

Aces from Lauren Dreves and Peyton Dunn provided the separation Auburn needed, and seven shots from Fallan Lanham and four from Alexis Dacosta gave the home team an early 25-19 lead.

However, rivalry games are never without their ups and downs. Six errors from the Tiger attackers put the Orange and Blue in a hole they found difficult to get out of. Meanwhile, Alabama's offense posted its highest percentage of the night (.375).

Although Lakin Laurendine provided the spark late in the set, the Crimson Tide tied the game at one set apiece.

However, Laurendine and the Tigers weren't about to let the hordes of Auburn fans leave disappointed.

Scheer, Zimmerman and Laurendine thrilled the audience and their team and were successful across the board. Peyton Dunn and Kalei Edson combined their trio for 17 kills.

Laurendine, a native of Jackson, Mississippi, finished the afternoon with a career-high 12 kills and 10 digs for her first double-double.

Still, Alabama didn't go away quietly. Brent Crouch's team had to dig deep again and had to accept two set points when the score was 22:24. Scheer and Zimmerman ensured that the set went to extra points. While the defense continued to make life difficult, Auburn finally found the decisive blow and took the set and the lead, two sets to one, 29-27.

The fourth frame was Auburn's cleanest volleyball set all afternoon. Nearly every player in the front row contributed to the block attempt as the Tigers scored three more goals and finished the night as a team with 11 players.

Scheer recorded four more kills without errors and finished her match with 11 for a .310 batting average. Bell and Laurendine each collected five of them.

It all added up to a .371 batting average and a four-set win over the Crimson Tide, the Tigers' eighth straight win over their rivals.

Game notes

– Auburn's win over Alabama is the program's eighth straight and seventh straight for head coach Brent Crouch
– The 3,082 fans in attendance represented a program record, most recently against Arkansas on November 25, 2023 (2,711).
— Auburn's 11 total blocks marked the eighth time the Tigers reached double figures this season
– Madison Scheer (11 kills) reached double figures for the 10th time in 2024
– Bella Bell (12 kills) reached double figures in her sixth game this season and third straight game
– Bel Zimmerman (10 kills) reached double figures for the seventh time in 2024
– Alexis Dacosta (15 points) topped double figures for the ninth time this season
– Lakin Laurendine recorded career highs in kills (12) and digs (10), recording her first double-double

What Crouch had to say

Opening speech…
“I thought we played kind of mediocre. I think Alabama has improved a lot since last year. I was a little afraid of a Kentucky cat. I'm not in their heads, but maybe that's what happened. We didn't play well in the first set, but we won. Sometimes that's the worst thing that can happen. Obviously didn't play well in the second set and made some changes. Bringing along were Lakin (Laurendine), who gave great performances, and Zoe (Slaughter). However, I wanted to get in because Lauren (Dreves) wasn't having her best day and we needed to shake things up. After that, we hit .318, we hit .371, we still had trouble defensively, especially with their outsides. But I'm glad we reacted the way we did. There was a bit of a hiccup towards the end of the fourth set to tie the game, but we had a good enough lead where it was fine. Look, it's hard to win in this league, it's certainly hard. When you play Alabama, it doesn't matter if they're good or bad, it's just a meaningful game. So if I come out with a win, I’ll be happy with that.”