The Auburn (10-1) volleyball team won the Alabama Showdown in Birmingham behind a strong defensive performance as the Tigers defeated South Alabama (4-6) in the finals in four sets, 3-1 (20-25, 25-19, 25-19, 25-23).
Despite taking an early lead in the first set behind three big blocks from Auburn, South Alabama would later go on a 6-0 run to take control and win the first set.
Auburn got their defense going again in the second set. After South Alabama had a .294 hitting percentage in the first set, the Tigers stepped it up and held the Jaguars to a .061 hitting percentage in the second set.
Graduate Students Bella Bell and Chelsey McCurdy led the way for the Tigers early, as both recorded six blocks through the first two sets.
On the offensive side, junior Bel Zimmerman made an impact as she had eight kills through the first two sets.
In the third set, Freshman Kalei Edson picked up where she left off and recorded her third ace of the match. Madison Scheer and Bel Zimmerman had double digit kills before the end of the third.
Heading into the fourth set, Scheer dominated. She had six kills on a .353 hitting percentage and recorded a season high 18 kills during the match.
As a team, Auburn had 92 digs on the day, which is the most since they had 97 against Texas A&M in 2021.
“Very proud of the team to go out and get three wins this weekend.” Said coach Brent Crouch. “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.”
Auburn opens SEC play against the 11th ranked Kentucky Wildcats on Friday night at 8 p.m. inside Neville Arena.
