Auburn Volleyball took to the Neville Arena court for the first time in 2025 on Wednesday night against an in-state foe: the Troy Trojans. After just three sets, the Tigers secured their first home win of the season, 3-0.
Sophomore Grace Havlicek started the match with an early kill to give Auburn the momentum early. The Tigers would then shift attack responsibilities to senior Bel Zimmerman and sophomore Lauren Dreves, who had 8 and 11 kills, respectively.
The Tigers capitalized on the early momentum and won the first set 25-12. With a solid first set on both defense and offense, Auburn seemed primed to carry it into the following few sets. Though the Trojans gained a slight lead early in the second set thanks to an early string of kills, the Tigers regained some momentum thanks to an ace by junior Shanelle Puetz that tied the score at 6-6.
A tight first half of the second set had the crowd on the edge of their seats thanks to back-and-forth points between the Tigers and Trojans. Following an overturned point in Auburn's favor, the set was tied 10-10, and remained close until a 14-14 tie. Then, the Tigers began to pull away.
Auburn extended its lead to 18-16 thanks to a kill from junior Eden Bower, and the Tigers ran with that momentum to win the set 25-19 on a block by Zimmerman and Havlicek to close out the second set and take a 2-0 lead.
The third set saw a dominant Auburn start, as the Tigers took charge right away with 2 blocks and 3 kills within the first few points and took the lead in the third set. The result was an early 10-4 Auburn lead that the Trojans would find insurmountable despite a strong comeback attempt in the middle of the set.
Auburn quickly stifled the rally and pulled away once again to secure a 25-17 set win. The final blow was delivered via an ace on match point by redshirt senior Liz Markovska to send the Tiger faithful home happy. Markovska had a total of 7 kills, 3 blocks, and digs on the night.
Sophomore Kate Mansfield contributed to the Tigers' success in the third set, recording a total of 6 kills, 9 blocks, and a game Hitting Percentage. Coming off a fantastic freshman campaign last year, Dreves picked up where she left off in Neville Arena, leading the Tigers to a home win to kick off the week.
Dreves had a total of 11 kills, 5 blocks, and 12 digs throughout the game, leading the team in kills and carrying the squad’s energy. Senior Alexis Dacosta had a total of 12 digs and helped lead the sweep, showing consistent grit out on the court.
The win improves the Tigers to 3-1 on the young season, but the week of play isn’t over just yet. Auburn Volleyball will continue its season against Jackson State in Neville Arena on Friday at 5 p.m. CDT.
