Auburn Volleyball

[Mikey 16,598]

39 minutes ago, slot canyon said:

Just watching the match, it seemed apparent that Auburn was more error prone than previous matches.

Agree. We also had some amount of bad luck. I know that luck usually goes both ways, but in this match all the unusual bounces seemed to favor LSU. AU also seemed to come unglued for a time early in the 5th set.  Hopefully experience will take care of this.

[slot canyon 1,333]

3 hours ago, Mikey said:

Agree. We also had some amount of bad luck. I know that luck usually goes both ways, but in this match all the unusual bounces seemed to favor LSU. AU also seemed to come unglued for a time early in the 5th set.  Hopefully experience will take care of this.

Also, the 4th set when we were up 15 - 7 and managed to lose by 4 points, 21 - 25.  By rights, we should have been getting on the plane and headed back to Auburn with a match victory.  I know what you mean about "unusual bounces" and thought the same thing.  

[slot canyon 1,333]

AU volleyball gets win over Georgia winning the match 3 sets to 1.  AU won the first two sets 25 - 22 and 26 - 24 then lost a tightly contested 3rd set 23 -25.  In the 4th set, Georgia appeared to have the momentum and one had to wonder if AU might fade as we did vs LSU.  At one point, Georgia was up 20 - 13 but the tigers fought back to win 25 - 23.  The middle blocker for Georgia, Sophie Fischer (6'5") was very impressive.  She is a Junior transfer from Kentucky.  The match appeared well attended considering it was a "football Saturday".

https://auburntigers.com/news/2022/10/8/auburn-volleyball-bounces-back-with-victory-over-bulldogs.aspx

 

[slot canyon 1,333]

Auburn the winner of an exciting 2nd match vs Georgia Bulldogs.

# GEORGIA (12-5,3-3 SEC)
-VS-
# AUBURN (16-1,5-1 SEC)

Team	1	2	3	4	5
Georgia	22	21	25	26	14
Auburn	25	25	15	24	16

 

In the final set, Georgia was up 14 - 11 and AU got 5 straight points to win the set/match that went as follows:  kill by Anderson, kill by Anderson, kill by Kemp, block Kemp/Barrett and block Kemp/Anderson.  At one point I thought we might fade against the more experienced Georgia, but this young Auburn team has a lot of guts.  The interview with Coach Crouch at the end says it all.

https://auburntigers.com/news/2022/10/9/auburn-volleyball-caps-off-bulldog-sweep-with-improbable-five-set-win.aspx

[WarTiger 3,901]

That was a fun match to watch.  Had me on edge and those girls just didn't quit. 

[slot canyon 1,333]

1 hour ago, WarTiger said:

That was a fun match to watch.  Had me on edge and those girls just didn't quit. 

My wife and I were watching and it was much the same here.  When AU blocked that last kill attempt by Georgia's best player we both screamed and I ran over to chair and we did a high five.  Lot of tension watching those last points as AU held serve to get the win. 

[WarTiger 3,901]

12 minutes ago, slot canyon said:

My wife and I were watching and it was much the same here.  When AU blocked that last kill attempt by Georgia's best player we both screamed and I ran over to chair and we did a high five.  Lot of tension watching those last points as AU held serve to get the win. 

Crowd is getting larger match by match too.  They were really into it.  We have a chance here to really push this program over the top the next couple of years.  It wouldn't surprise me at all if we actually sell out that arena at some point.

[Mikey 16,598]

Is there any way to tell which matches will be on the TV? I was able to watch the UAT games and LSU on SEC TV. The Auburntigers.com site doesn't show coverage of future matches.

[slot canyon 1,333]

 

12 hours ago, Mikey said:

Is there any way to tell which matches will be on the TV? I was able to watch the UAT games and LSU on SEC TV. The Auburntigers.com site doesn't show coverage of future matches.

I believe (believe = not absolutely sure) our conference games will be on TV in one form or another ....SEC, SEC+, ESPN+.  There is a jumbled all team schedule at https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/ncaa-volleyball-tv-schedule-2022-espn-btn-pac12-networks/ that may help.  When I look at the Missouri VB site it clearly shows the AU games this Saturday and Sunday on ESPN+ and SEC.  Also, I might be interested to tune in on some of the BAMA vs Missouri game tomorrow on ESPN+.  The Oct 26 match vs Florida is set for SEC network on Oct 26.  I believe the AU site publishes the TV stuff closer to match time.

Looking at the national rankings, Florida is ranked 13 and Kentucky 19.  In the SEC rankings, AU, Florida and Kentucky tied for 1st with identical 5-1 conference records.  BAMA (0-6 conference) ranked last (13th) followed by Missouri.(0-4 conference).  Missouri has played and lost to a couple of very good teams; notably Louisville and Kentucky as well as Tennessee, so their SEC record may not be a true measure of their abilities.

 

[slot canyon 1,333]

Something I wanted to add to my previous post regarding SEC volleyball.  Texas currently ranked #1 nationally and will join SEC 2025 as will Oklahoma.  Texas was the season runner up in 2015, 2016 and 2020.  They won the outright in 2012 so they have a very solid program.  Also, in April of this year Vandy announced they will have a team for fall of 2025.  They had a team in the early years of SEC VB roughly 40 years ago but lasted only 2 years.  That will be a total of 16 VB teams.  As far as I know, they still do not have plans to participate in softball.

[slot canyon 1,333]

Auburn travels to Columbia, MO to play the Missouri Tigers a couple of matches Saturday and Sunday @ 1 PM both days.  Saturday on SEC+ and Sunday SEC network.  Missouri lost their match last night vs BAMA in 3 sets 21-25, 27-29 and 10-25.  Their conference record is 0 - 5 and overall record 7 - 8.  In our last 10 meetings we are 1 - 9 vs Missouri.  Last season we split 2 matches in Auburn 3 - 0 and 2 - 3.  Their 15-member roster is overall youthful with 5 Fresh and 7 Soph.  Their main threats on offence are Dixon (senior) and Cox (soph).  After watching the final 2 sets of their match last night, I feel that if we play up to our abilities, we could have a 2-match road victory.

[slot canyon 1,333]

In our match vs Missouri, my prediction in my post above did not come to fruition.  In Match #1, AU appeared to take a while to get into any rhythm, but finally won in 5 sets: 21-25, 21-25, 25-17, 25-17 and 15-12.  In the second match Auburn won the first set handily and then faded over the next 3 sets to lose the match 1 set to 3.  Match scores: 25-15, 21-25, 15-25 and 27-29.  During this match, Missouri applied a lot of block pressure (12 blocks by Missouri vs 4 by AU) and sometimes appeared to make AU timid at the net on offence.  Also, AU had double the errors; 20 to 10.  Credit Missouri for the comeback play in 2nd match.  Next up for AU is Tennessee at Auburn on Friday Oct 21@ 7pm.

[Mikey 16,598]

I think I jinx this team. They've lost two matches all season and I've watched both on TV. I did see one win but seeing both losses by a team that's 17-2 is very grim.

[slot canyon 1,333]

 

"I think I jinx this team. They've lost two matches all season and I've watched both on TV. I did see one win but seeing both losses by a team that's 17-2 is very grim."

Mikey,

On Friday I will pull for you to increase your watched win factor to from 33 1/3% to 50%

Edited October 17, 2022 by slot canyon

[slot canyon 1,333]

AU wins 4 set match vs Vols.

Team	1	2	3	4
Tennessee	15	13	29	25
Auburn	25	25	27	27

 

Clearly AU in control during first two sets and then in set 3 roles reversed and at one point Tennessee was up by 7 at 22 - 15.  AU regained serve via a Vol service error and then Zimmerman had 3 service aces and Anderson 4 kills to bring the score to a 1 point lead for AU 23 - 22.  Play went back and forth until Vols got the set win 29 - 27.  The final 4th set was tightly contested but AU finally put it away.  Fingal for Tennessee was as advertised.  Great athlete with very good jump height and strong strike.  She had 20 kills and I believe leads the conference.  Anderson for AU also had 20 kills.  Tennessee had more errors (29 - 15) and AU had more blocks (10 - 4).  Well attended with enthusiastic crowd.

https://auburntigers.com/news/2022/10/21/raucous-crowd-energizes-auburn-volleyballs-win-over-tennessee.aspx

[AUreo 753]

I went to an AU Volleyball game for the first time last night. It was entertaining and I hope more people will come to the games in the future...

 

Next:

Auburn vs Florida

 

Oct 26 (Wed)

Auburn, Ala.Neville Arena - Volleyball

7:00 PM CT, SEC

Edited October 22, 2022 by AUreo

[slot canyon 1,333]

8 hours ago, AUreo said:

I went to an AU Volleyball game for the first time last night. It was entertaining and I hope more people will come to the games in the future...

 

Next:

Auburn vs Florida

 

Oct 26 (Wed)

Auburn, Ala.Neville Arena - Volleyball

7:00 PM CT, SEC

I would say you picked a good one to attend.  Wish I lived closer.  We attended the games at UAB earlier this year.  Excited about the prospects going forward with this young team.  I believe the improvement is evident and the fan base is building and should attract some more very good recruits.  

[slot canyon 1,333]

Loss to one of the top teams in the conference and getting ready to play another top team this weekend. Big difference last night was that Florida basically had 48 kills to 29 for AU.  Gators won in 3 sets.  Good crowd.  Nice to see this team getting some fan support.  

https://auburntigers.com/news/2022/10/26/volleyball-tigers-unable-to-keep-pace-with-no-14-florida.aspx

[Mikey 16,598]

My jinx continues. I've now watched four AU matches and managed to see all three losses of a team that's 18-3. That ain't an easy thing to accomplish!

[AuburnNTexas 7,147]

I am tickled pink at the progress this team has made in a short period of time. a couple years ago we couldn't win an SEC game now we are winning more then we are losing in the SEC and we can compete with some really good teams like Florida.  When we started season undefeated I was happy but I also realized that while much better then in the past we are not elite , YET.

I want o emphasize the word YET as the improvement in recruiting and play since new coach has been unbelievable. We have a great coach and the program will become great under him with the talent he has brought in and will bring in. We are already a solid mid-tier SEC program with a very young team with room to grow.

 

[slot canyon 1,333]

We took it on the chin Saturday and Sunday playing Kentucky with a couple of straight 3 set losses.  The closest we came was a 25-21 loss and the largest loss was Sunday in a set loss of 25-13.  At times I thought we looked timid or intimidated.  On Sunday, our usual starting Libro, Sarah Morton, did not play due to concussion protocol.  I believe coach summed it up well.

CROUCH'S COMMENTS
"I think Kentucky is a great team. There is a reason they are at the top of the conference and have been for many years. It's good for our young players to see what that level is like. They are a top-12, top-10 team and we haven't gone against that until we hit Florida and Kentucky this week.
 
We were able to score points at times on offense but slowing both of these teams down was difficult for us. We have some work to do in that area. That's not a surprise. The defense, especially blocking, takes time. I think our youth showed up in that area the last couple of outings but I don't think we had any trouble in terms of focus, serving, passing or even attacking. The block defense was tough and we have a ways to go. It just takes time."

Should I assume Mickey was watching?

[Mikey 16,598]

On 10/31/2022 at 6:35 AM, slot canyon said:

Should I assume Mickey was watching?

No. I don't get to watch unless it's on the SEC or ESPN networks. That SEC+ doesn't work for me.

[AuburnNTexas 7,147]

Even though Kentucky beat us in 3 sets they are a great team and we are a very young team. That said the amount of progress since we hired our new coach is amazing. We went from a team that did not win an SEC game to a team that is middle of the pack in the SEC with very young players who will get better and our recruiting has improved from year to year. 

[AuburnNTexas 7,147]

I didn't watch the game live but just watched the replay. Auburn beats Texas A&M 3 games to 1.  It was Auburns balanced attack against A&M's two stud players.  Anderson led with 13 kills but even scoring as auburn had 4 players with 9 kills or more.

[slot canyon 1,333]

Tonight (Sunday, November 6) AU again wins the match in 4 closely contested sets 3-1.  There were numerous serving errors by both teams.  At one point, I believe in the last set, there were at least 4 straight service errors.