VolleyMike

The loss of Morton, Anderson, Kemp, and Sinness is definitely concerning and will undoubtedly affect us. The lineup changes made last season (why mess with a young lineup that nearly got you to the sweet 16 only a few months prior?) and a lack of in game adjustments by the coaching staff all season is more concerning.

Looks like Auburn VB will be playing at a tournament next Saturday (3/30) at Georgia Tech. Should be a good early look at the team. All times EST 10:00AM - Virginia 11:20AM - Tennessee 2:00PM - Georgia Southern 4:45PM - Georgia Tech

Sad to see her go. She was an early signee in last years class and made a huge impact in last years back row. I think she was battling an injury most of this season. Surprised to see her removed from the roster on the website already. Cassidy Tanton was also not on there anymore.

Height definitely matters, but not at the expense of quickness and athleticism. If you’re going up to block and the ball is already past you, it doesn’t matter how tall you are, you are not going to affect that play. We saw A LOT of this all season with teams that ran faster offenses. Especially with our middles. When a kill goes cross court it is typically because there was an opening in the middle somewhere. Middles have a very hard job, but we seemed to struggle more than most. To me the bigger problem was the lack of adjustments by the coaching staff. Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Western Michigan, and others were all games that we struggled in and yet we kept running the same lineup and game plan out on the court set after set to see if it would somehow get better. When a player is struggling, sometimes the best thing you can do for them is to pull them out to let them regroup and get their confidence back. The worst thing you can do is to leave them in and let them implode in front of everyone. The second worst thing you can do is to put a backup in and pull the backup out right away if they make a mistake. Now you have two players with low confidence. I’m not saying we should use kid gloves with our players, but sometimes great players have B or C games and coaches need to recognize that and not be afraid to make changes.

Didn’t seem like we made any meaningful adjustments the entire match. Clearly had a few players that were off, but didn’t pull them out to give anyone else a shot. Don’t we have a super deep bench of talent?

Two straight matches with not a single adjustment made by the coaching staff. Makes no sense.

Awesome crowd Auburn family! That is all I have to say about tonight’s game against KY.

It is hard to ignore the red card in the 2nd set. It was a bad call by the refs for sure, but getting a red card when you’re up on the #3 team in the nation…. that’s just not smart nor representative of Auburn Volleyball. The score was 23-18 and we would have been serving to get to set point. Instead, Crouch’s red card kills all our momentum, gives Florida a point, and the serve! They then go on to score 7 of the next 8 points and win 26-24. Win that set and we would have likely swept them in 3.

The entire team seemed really out of sorts against MTSU. Serving was off, passing was off, setting wasn’t quite as crisp (likely due to passing issues), and hitting just wasn’t terminating as normal (again, somewhat attributed to deficits leading up to the hit). That being said, MTSU had extremely good passers and defense in general. They were playing “rotational defense” which is hard to pull off well, but if you do, it is very hard for off speed, tips, and hits to find the floor. If we played them 10 times, I think we probably win 8 or 9 of those. It just wasn’t our day and I don’t really think it would have been much different had Andersen been on the court. The really positive thing I saw was the impact of our bench. Quite honestly, I did not see much of a drop off at all. They brought a ton of energy to the court and both Zimmerman and Harmon had phenomenal matches across all phases of the game against CSU and Mercer. In addition, Scheer continued to put in her usual extremely solid performance, Kemp was a blocking machine, and Barrett distributed the ball really well and even hit Zimmerman out of the back row several times which was very effective. The back row play of Slaughter, Lanham, and Morton has consistently been rising all year and I no longer assume any ball is going to hit the ground on our side of the net. They are just too good. I hope we continue to see Crouch use/rotate his bench as the season progresses because the chemistry level on the court was very high last weekend and giving more players time on the court will keep the intensity and engagement levels high in practice. Looking forward to the matches this weekend! Some early RPI projections have Alabama Southern ahead of Auburn, so todays match is a big one.

Big win for the program for sure. That will help in November when we are securing our tournament bid. I see no reason we aren’t 11-0 heading into Florida and SEC play.

Definitely not a great showing. GT was ready to play and they looked really good. Set 2 was a great battle, but the rest of the match was pretty lopsided. I was surprised to see so much court time from our transfers. Might have just been the coaches wanting more looks at the new players in game like scenarios. I just hope we can find the elite team chemistry from last season, because it wasn’t there in Atlanta.

Great Orange/Blue scrimmage last night! Love the new court!!! There is so much depth on the roster now (clearly backed up by the tight set scores). Coaching staff has a lot of options and it will be interesting to see how they choose to use the roster across sets and throughout the season. I have no idea who the front runners are at literally any position. Looking forward to today’s exhibition match against #20 Georgia Tech. When they played in the Spring we were experimenting heavily with the lineup and they pretty much stuck with their starters. GT was playing to win, we were playing to learn and improve. I would imagine we start this match with what the coaches believe is our best lineup and sub in where we aren’t having success. However, you never know! Since this is still an exhibition, Brent may just have specific lineups he wants to test out today regardless of the score. Whichever route they go, it will be good to see how we stack up. I am sure GT will be playing to win.

I think we will do better than “mid-pack” this season.

Nebraska just sold out 82,900 seats in Memorial Stadium in 48 hours for a volleyball match against UNO this coming August. What is it going to take to sell out Neville for an Auburn volleyball home match?

Yes. Crouch wants to bring home an SEC title in the next 2-3 years and make a serious run into the NCAA tourney. Time will tell, but he has all the pieces to make it happen. His staff is top notch too. Before the game yesterday he showed some of the stats they created where his staff literally broke down over 2,200 SEC swings to analyze the amount of time that elapsed between the time the setter released the ball until the hitter made contact. They did this to determine the optimal time to get the highest percentage of kills. This Fall, Auburn will be averaging 0.8 seconds. This is probably down from around 1.0-1.2 seconds last year. The amount of work required to figure that out is crazy and now every set and hit in practice has a timer on it. Speed wins at the elite level and Crouch is pushing his team to get there quickly. Crouch is also a guy that clearly values team chemistry as his team gets along really, really, really well on and off the court. That chemistry is what allowed them to win matches last year they probably should have lost. I don’t think there is a better coach in the SEC.

Great match yesterday against Georgia Tech. Two different coaching philosophies on display. Before the match coach Crouch met with the public to explain what they spent the Spring working on. Very insightful and had you not attended, you might be wondering why those lineups were so varied. This is why I think Crouch is such a good coach. He used the match to learn more about his entire team rather than focusing on points in a match that means nothing. The Georgia Tech coach played her starting offense the majority of the match and just wanted to win. Crouch is really speeding up the offense from last year to allow the hitters to have more success. The timing between setter and hitter is critical and takes time to develop. Testing this in matches against big time opponents like Georgia Tech is just invaluable experience for this young team. Of particular interest was the play of Swanson and Harmon in the middle. Swanson did not run a slide at Illinois, but is developing it for use in the Fall. When her and the setter were in sync, that slide is beautiful and incredibly effective. I heard someone say Swanson is touching 10’6”, so having that as a weapon will be crazy good. Harmon was running several quicks out of the middle and her power on that hit makes that it almost an automatic point when she is in sync with the setter. Scheer was super effective out of the back row. If she can continue to develop her passing skills, she will be a very effective weapon wherever she stands on the court. Tanton is also hitting really well and is developing a jump serve that could be very effective if she can get some consistency going. Zimmerman continues to shine. Super impressed with her all around play. Appears to be hitting the ball harder and harder every time I see her play. Dunn and Barrett are running pretty close in terms of setting ability. Barrett seems to have a little better connection with the hitters, but that is likely due to the amount of history she has with them. Both are doing great. Sinness is still out with an ankle/leg injury. Really hoping some time off will allow her to heal and be back at full strength. Morton took most of the libero duties against Georgia Tech and played very well. Lanham did play libero one set and apparently Slaughter has a concussion as she did not play. Hoping for a speedy recovery! Handel did not get a libero rotation, but was solid as a DS and served extremely well.

The Spring matches are about working in new players and trying out different lineup combinations to figure out what the plan for Fall will be. I think the FSU match was also a way to get exposure to that venue since they will have a non-conference match there. My impressions thus far: Kyla Swanson is a huge addition in the middle. She is quick to the block and has a powerful swing. She works hard and seems to be fitting in really well with the team. I think she will see a lot of court time this fall. Peyton Dunn is a solid setter and a good blocker on the right side. Setters take awhile to get a feel for their hitters and the offense. These Spring reps are really important for her to build up that rapport. Peyton also seems very well liked by the team, has a positive attitude, and is fitting in great. The libero position on the team seems very competitive right now. I could easily see Morton, Slaughter, Lanham, and even Handel getting playing time at that spot. Handel is the farthest away, but in my opinion has shown the greatest improvement since the season ended. Slaughter has a great attitude on the court and a second sense of where the play is going. I think she is probably the front runner, but really any of these players will be great in this position. On the pins they seem to be trying a lot of different options and every hitter is getting playing time in the back row. I’d say Crouch is trying to figure out who he can have play 6 rotations so they have back row attacking options. As a group, everyone is noticeably stronger and much more physical than they were in the Fall. The strength coaches have clearly been working these girls hard. Anderson has a broken finger on her left hand and that is limiting her blocking ability. Zimmerman seems to have upped her game and is getting a lot of playing time on the outside thus far. She also has a fantastic back row attack that she showed at the end of the Troy match. Crouch has tried using Kemp on the right side, but I’m not sure that is a viable option, so Zimmerman, Scheer, or Bella Bell could end up there in the Fall. Tanton has also been getting a lot of playing time on the outside. She is the strongest player on the team and plays with a ton of energy. In the middle, I think Swanson and Harmon have stood out the most. It will be interesting to see what happens when Bella Bell joins the team. Crouch will have a lot of options to work with this Fall. I expect all four middles will see time on the court as they all have their own unique strengths. Harmon has a very powerful swing. Kemp has height and can use that height to put up a big block. Swanson is quick, blocks well, and has a solid swing. Really looking forward to the Georgia Tech match. They were a top 10 program last year and will give us a better idea of where we stand right now. This Auburn team has a ton of potential and if you haven’t been watching then now is the time to jump on their bandwagon!

I think AU has a top 20-25 class coming in this fall and it will make a huge difference. The pieces will be in place to make a serious run at the NCAA tournament within 2-3 years. The attraction to Auburn right now is the coaching staff and being part of something that hasn’t been done before. Going to the traditional powerhouses is actually a turn off for many players because they want to go somewhere and play right away. They don’t want to ride the bench for two years or worse have to constantly play in fear of losing their spot on the team. PrepDig is one of several volleyball publications and their top 2022 players included many of our incoming class. #30 Isabel Zimmerman (3rd ranked RS hitter in the country), #84 Kendal Kemp (16th ranked MH in the country), #99 Sarah Morton (13th ranked DS/L in the country), #107 Madison Scheer (top 40 OH in the country). Akasha Anderson was also named Virginia’s Gatorade player of the year. Every incoming player is exceptional and this team is already a tight knit group with goals of making the tournament. I believe women's volleyball is one of the most exciting sports to watch and I hope that when this team starts rolling the fans start packing Auburn arena to support the hard work they put in. The raucous crowds at those final games on TV in the tournament last Fall are what it’s like every game in many of the BIG 10 schools. Kentucky and Florida are the closest to that in the SEC. I hope Auburn can be the next!

I believe she may be a walk on

Great 4-0 start! The new additions at the pins are making a huge difference in the offense. You can also see the whole team has been working hard to speed the offense up with quicker and flatter sets from the middle of the court. Those good high passes give Jackie/Jordan plenty of time and multiple options to pick from. Back row is showing great effort to not let balls drop and make good high passes. Coaching staff was smart to load the schedule with winnable matches to give this team confidence. Expect them to be 8-0 before a good test with Belmont and then conference play.

I have been able to watch a few National Qualifiers this club season and have managed to catch most of the class of 2022 in action. The athletes Brent and Alex have recruited are phenomenal Open level players. Their club teams are routinely finishing in gold or silver brackets which is getting them regular exposure to playing against the best players in the country. I have extremely high hopes for Auburn volleyball, but it will take a couple of seasons to get all of the pieces in place. Starting to fill the arena this fall and building up an active fan base will really help in recruiting and begin to create a home court advantage. Take a look at the Nebraska fan base to see where we need to get to. Obviously winning makes this easier, but we need to make progress regardless. Brent has a great thing going, we need to help by building up a buzz around his team.