AUBURN, AL. (EETV) – On Friday night, Auburn volleyball completed a massive comeback and took down the 12th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats in historic match at Neville Arena.
Auburn dropped the first two sets before clawing and scratching their way to victory. In what seemed like a blowout loss to come, Auburn’s net defense stepped up. The Tigers had 15 total blocks with freshman Grace Havlicek leading the team at 10.
This defense provided the nail in the coffin for Kentucky as the match point was decided on a Havlicek block assisted by Bella Bell.
“The group understood that we’re better than we should in the first two sets," said head coach Brent Crouch. “We could’ve rolled over and died and in previous years that's happened with Kentucky. Beating them has been a long time coming.”
Junior Madison Scheer seemed to be everywhere the Wildcats placed the ball on the court. Scheer would lead the orange and blue with 17 kills in the match. Every time Scheer saw an opening she quickly and fiercely took overwhelming the Wildcats.
Havlicek saw some more playing time with Emma Moore out for injury. She proceeded to exceed expectations setting her career high in kills (six), total blocks and points (11.5).
“We have not seen what she did tonight," said Crouch. “She’s a better offensive player than Emma [Moore] at this point in their careers. We knew Grace would get some swings tonight, but I didn’t know it would look like that.”
“You’re a lot closer than you think you are and I see you playing this year,” Crouch said to Havlicek earlier in the week.
Kentucky also struggled throughout the game and those struggles were highlighted in crucial moments like the fifth set, when they committed four serve errors handing the Tigers four of their 18 points in the set. The Wildcats committed 22 serve errors to the Tigers 21.
Auburn goes to 11-1 on the season and 1-0 in SEC play so far on the young season. They will be at home next to take on the Alabama Crimson Tide on Sept. 29 @ 4:00 CDT.
