Freshman Lauren Dreves and Madison Scheer led an explosive Auburn offense on Tuesday night, beating Troy 3-0 and guiding the Tigers to their fourth win of the season.
Auburn set the tone early against the Trojans with setters Kalei Edson and Peyton Dunn spreading the offense out evenly, making it hard to tell who the set was going to on the front line. Dreves made a statement quickly with three early kills—tallying 10 on the day— and Bell Zimmerman and Chelsey McCurdy each scored a pair.
The Tigers put up an impressive performance with their presence at the net. Scheer, Dreves, Bella Bell, Emma Moore, Zimmerman and McCurdy all tallied blocks while holding the Trojans hitting percentage to .179.
McCurdy finished with five blocks on the night, the most of any player this season and the most since eight last September against Ole Miss.
Alexis Dacosta didn't skip a beat as she rejoined the lineup, notching a match-high 14 digs, six more than any other player on both teams. In her three matches with the Tigers, Dacosta has not finished with less than 14 digs in a single match.
Serving runs from Edson and Scheer allowed the Tigers to create separation from the Trojans and take a lead early.
Beginning the second set at the serving line, Dreves took over the match. While she only recorded one ace, her well placed serves forced the Trojans out of position, allowing Auburn to open the second set on an 11-0 run.
Dreves finished her stellar night with a career high 10 kills on .450 hitting, with four digs and an ace.
Fellow outside hitter Madison Scheer was equally as dominant on the night. Scheer notched three kills in the second stanza leading the Tigers to a comfortable two-set lead. Scheer slammed home eight kills, with no errors, hitting a monstrous .533. She added three blocks as well to add to her day.
Bell and Zimmerman each made their presence known in the match. Bell tallied a team-high five kills in the final set, followed by Zimmerman’s four.
Tough serving, including an ace from Fallan Lanham, helped the Tigers stay on track for the win.
Auburn claimed season highs in blocks with 10.5 and a hitting percentage of .369 in its sweep over Troy, marking the fourth straight season in which the Tigers have started 4-0.
“Every match, I think we did better than the one before," said Auburn head coach Brent Crouch. "There’s continuing to be some comfort zone there about who to set and when. Hitters are getting in rhythm a little bit more. It was great to see Lauren Dreves play well tonight. When your left sides combine for .500, you are going to win.”
Auburn is back in Neville Arena for a match against Cal Poly on Thursday September 5. Fist serve is set for 6 p.m. CST.
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Luke McClure is a senior from Huntsville, Alabama, majoring in sports production. He joined The Plainsman in fall 2023.
You can follow him on X (Twitter) at @lukemcclure0
