Auburn 2024

[auvbaddict]

2024 Auburn Tigers

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2024 Auburn Roster

Madison Scheer Junior 6'1" OH/OPP	Lauren Dreves Freshman 6'1" OH	Fallan Lanham Senior 5'8" L	Bella Bell Senior 6'3" MB	Kalei Edson Freshman 5'10" S
Peyton Dunn RS Junior 5'11" S	Zoe Slaughter Freshman 6'1" OH	Emma Moore Freshman 6'3" MB	Bel Zimmerman Junior 6'2" OH/OPP	Paige Thibault Senior 5'6" L
Chelsey McCurdy Grad Student 6'3" MB	Alexis Dacosta Junior 5'11" L	Grace Havlicek Freshman 6'3" MB	Jasmine Okeoma RS Freshman 6'3" MB	Bella Humphrey Freshman 5'9" L
	Sydney Handel Junior 6'0" L		Lakin Laurendine RS Freshman 6'1" OH/OPP

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2024 Auburn Schedule

Non-Conference Schedule
Aug 18, 2pm CT	vs. Orange & Blue Scrimmage	Auburn, AL / Neville Arena
Aug 24, 1pm CT	vs. Georgia Tech (Exhibition)	Auburn, AL / Neville Arena
Aug 30, 10am CT	vs. North Alabama	Auburn, AL / Neville Arena
Aug 30, 7pm CT	vs. Georgia Southern	Auburn, AL / Neville Arena
Aug 31, 1pm CT	vs. Wofford	Auburn, AL / Neville Arena
Sep 3, 7pm CT	vs. Troy	Auburn, AL / Neville Arena
Sep 5, 6pm CT	vs. Cal Poly	Auburn, AL / Neville Arena
Sep 8, 12pm CT	vs. Florida State	Auburn, AL / Neville Arena
Sep 13, 6pm CT	at Minnesota	Minneapolis, MN / Maturi Pavilion
Sep 14, 12pm CT	vs. LIU	Minneapolis, MN / Maturi Pavilion
Sep 19, 4pm CT	vs. Samford	Birmingham, AL
Sep 20, 7pm CT	at UAB	Birmingham, AL
Sep 21, 2pm CT	vs. South Alabama	Birmingham, AL
Conference Schedule
Sep 27, 8pm CT	vs. Kentucky	Auburn, AL / Neville Arena
Sep 29, 4pm CT	vs. Alabama	Auburn, AL / Neville Arena
Oct 4, 6:30pm CT	vs. Georgia	Auburn, AL / Neville Arena
Oct 6, 2pm CT	vs. Texas A&M	Auburn, AL / Neville Arena
Oct 13, 2pm CT	at Mississippi State	Starkville, MS
Oct 16, 4pm CT	at Alabama	Tuscaloosa, AL
Oct 20, TBA	at Tennessee	Knoxville, TN
Oct 25, 6:30pm CT	vs. LSU	Auburn, AL / Neville Arena
Oct 27, TBA CT	at South Carolina	Columbia, SC
Oct 30, 6:30pm CT	vs. Ole Miss	Auburn, AL / Neville Arena
Nov 3, 3pm CT	at Arkansas	Fayetteville, AR
Nov 8, 6pm CT	at Florida	Gainesville, FL
Nov 15, 6:30pm CT	vs. Texas	Auburn, AL / Neville Arena
Nov 20, 7pm CT	vs. Florida	Auburn, AL / Neville Arena
Nov 24, 5pm CT	at Oklahoma	Norman, OK
Nov 30, TBA	at Missouri	Columbia, MO

[volleyaudience]

Nice roster. I think Havlicek is Grace.

[auvbaddict]

Jun 15, 2024 14:26:38 GMT -5 volleyaudience said:

Nice roster. I think Havlicek is Grace.

Great catch.  Updated.

[InTheKnow]

Thanks for updating

[auvbaddict]

There was a lot of change on the roster since the end of the 2023 season.

Graduated (*=starter)
------------------------------------------
Kyla Swanson (MB)*
Jackie Barrett (S)*
Cassidy Tanton (PH)


Transferred Out (*=starter)
------------------------------------------
Sarah Morton (L)* --> Colorado
Akasha Anderson (OH)* --> Michigan State
Kendal Kemp (MB)* --> Georgia
Jordan Sinness (S) --> Troy


Transferred In
------------------------------------------
Alexis Dacosta (L) <-- Baylor


Incoming Freshmen
------------------------------------------
Lauren Dreves (OH) <-- Vancouver, WA (Oregon Juniors)
Kalei Edson (S) <-- Centralia, ILL (Stl High Performance)
Emma Moore (MB) <-- Mobile, AL (Lower Alabama Volleyball Club)
Grace Havlicek (MB) <-- Palm Beach Gardens, FL (Tribe)
Bella Humphrey (L) <-- Lafayette, IN (The Academy Volleyball)


The big question for the upcoming season is what does the starting lineup look like?


Here are my thoughts...
Scenario 1
The loss of Swanson and Kemp leaves a big hole at MB. In my opinion, the most logical move is to play Harmon (who played great in 2022) and move Bell over from OPP. Zimmerman played OPP as a Freshman and was very effective as both a blocker and hitter. Although not as tall as Bell, I think Zimmerman is a few steps faster and could possibly be the 6 rotation player. The loss of Anderson will allow either the Freshman Dreves or Laurendine a shot at significant playing time. From the looks of Spring ball, Dacosta is the likely starting Libero, but Thibault, Slaughter, and Lanham will be pushing her for playing time. I think Dunn is the starting setter, but Edson may see some time if she can develop a connection with the hitters.
OH1 - Madison Scheer
OH2 - Lauren Dreves / Lakin Laurendine
MB1 - Bella Bell
MB2 - Chelsey Harmon
OPP - Bel Zimmerman
S - Peyton Dunn
L - Alexis Dacosta / Paige Thibault / Zoe Slaughter
DS - Fallan Lanham / Sydney Handel / Bella Humphrey

Scenario 2
If they decide to keep Bell at OPP then one of the Freshmen will get significant playing time at MB. Zimmerman and Scheer would likely have the OH spots with Dreves and Laurendine likely seeing court time.
OH - Madison Scheer
OH - Bel Zimmerman
MB1 - Chelsey Harmon
MB2 - Jasmine Okeoma / Grace Havlicek / Emma Moore
OPP - Bella Bell
S - Peyton Dunn
L - Alexis Dacosta / Paige Thibault / Zoe Slaughter
DS - Fallan Lanham / Sydney Handel / Bella Humphrey

What are your thoughts?

[anOPINionATEDbeACH(hookemboo)]

Excited to watch Auburn this year because of Dacosta 100%. Loved her as a DS and now she’ll get full time libero duties at Auburn.

[auvbaddict]

Added the 2024 schedule to the main post.

[auvbaddict]

The 2024 SEC Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll came out about a month ago and has Auburn picked to finish 10th. Obviously, it is way too early to predict how this season will go, but I like it when we are an underdog.  I think we can move up a few spots in the final standings and potentially make the tournament again.

Place	School	Points
1.	Texas(14)	196
2.	Florida(1)	174
3.	Kentucky	173
4.	Georgia	148
5.	Tennessee	144
6.	Missouri	127
7.	Texas A&M	117
8.	Arkansas	109
9.	LSU	82
10.	Auburn	77
11.	Oklahoma	73
12.	Ole Miss	49
12.	South Carolina	49
14.	Mississippi State	42
15.	Alabama	15

[WahineFan44]

Aug 10, 2024 9:48:56 GMT -5 auvbaddict said:

The 2024 SEC Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll came out about a month ago and has Auburn picked to finish 10th. Obviously, it is way too early to predict how this season will go, but I like it when we are an underdog.  I think we can move up a few spots in the final standings and potentially make the tournament again.

Place	School	Points
1.	Texas(14)	196
2.	Florida(1)	174
3.	Kentucky	173
4.	Georgia	148
5.	Tennessee	144
6.	Missouri	127
7.	Texas A&M	117
8.	Arkansas	109
9.	LSU	82
10.	Auburn	77
11.	Oklahoma	73
12.	Ole Miss	49
12.	South Carolina	49
14.	Mississippi State	42
15.	Alabama	15

I think Georgia has the potential to finish top 2.

They got some damn good transfers and fischer is Fischer

[kevinmalone]

Aug 10, 2024 13:32:30 GMT -5 WahineFan44 said:

Aug 10, 2024 9:48:56 GMT -5 auvbaddict said:

The 2024 SEC Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll came out about a month ago and has Auburn picked to finish 10th. Obviously, it is way too early to predict how this season will go, but I like it when we are an underdog.  I think we can move up a few spots in the final standings and potentially make the tournament again.

Place	School	Points
1.	Texas(14)	196
2.	Florida(1)	174
3.	Kentucky	173
4.	Georgia	148
5.	Tennessee	144
6.	Missouri	127
7.	Texas A&M	117
8.	Arkansas	109
9.	LSU	82
10.	Auburn	77
11.	Oklahoma	73
12.	Ole Miss	49
12.	South Carolina	49
14.	Mississippi State	42
15.	Alabama	15

I think Georgia has the potential to finish top 2.

They got some damn good transfers and fischer is Fischer

Really they don't - still  have along way to go to get to that point - just because you get better players doesn't necessarily mean you catch the teams in front of you it just means you have better players than you did before

[vbshrink]

Jun 15, 2024 15:40:16 GMT -5 auvbaddict said:

There was a lot of change on the roster since the end of the 2023 season.

Graduated (*=starter)
------------------------------------------
Kyla Swanson (MB)*
Jackie Barrett (S)*
Cassidy Tanton (PH)

Barrett did graduate, but she also transferred to Baylor.

(Similarly, Tanton transferred to WVU.)

[volley4ever]

How many will transfer at the end of this season?

[auvbaddict]

Georgia Tech Exhibition Notes


Here are my takes from the GT exhibition from last week. Would love to hear what others think.



Overall

• The score doesn't really matter in an exhibition, but Auburn won 2 of the 5 sets. Other than the very slow start for Auburn in the first set, all sets were competitive.
• The energy on the court seemed significantly improved over last season.  Tons of smiles.  Lot's of visible support and passion for each other's play.  Chemistry looks markedly improved over last season in my opinion.
• Serving seemed more consistent.  A lot of balls to the 2,3,4 position seemed to cause GT passing issues, but when it was a good pass it resulted in a GT kill.
• Receiving seemed better, but we still struggled with some of the GT servers.

Setters

• Ran the 6-2 all 5 sets. Pros/cons for this strategy, but it should help block production and create two setters with game experience on the roster.
• Some concern with back row play and set selection, but considering this was match 1, I thought they did great.

Back Row

• Dacosta, Lanham, Thibault, and Humphrey all had time at Libero.  Slaughter may have also had a set, but I am not positive.  I thought Lanham and Thibault probably showed the best, but I don't have any stats to verify that with. The entire group is very good and I didn't see a huge change between sets.
• Coaching staff experimented with running two liberos in at least one set. I don't think it accomplished much.  Seemed to be switching for serve/receive purposes.

OH / RS

• Starting outsides appear to be Scheer and Dreves and on the right side it is Bell and Zimmerman.  Laurendine had a lot of court time in set 4 & 5 and looked good.
• Dreves seems to have the edge on passing, but obviously a less experienced hitter than Scheer, Bell, and Zimmerman.  The OH was usually targeted on serve/receive by GT and unfortunately the passes often didn't give our setters a lot of options.
• I was surprised Zimmerman only played RS and was not given a set to play OH or back row.  She appeared to have a very good game on the RS though with at least 4 stuff blocks and double-digit kills.
• Loved the triple block the front row put up on out of system balls.  We saw a lot of this in the middle last year, but now the hitters are able to make it over to the pins to put up this type of block.  Love it!
• There were very few back row attacks that I can remember from the match.  If we are going to have a hitter back there, we really should find a way to use her.

MH/MB

• Starting middles are McCurdy and Moore with Havlicek the first one in after that.  Okeoma may not be cleared from an earlier injury as she didn't play.
• Against GT it seemed like the middles were tasked more with blocking than hitting.  There was not a lot of hitting opportunities afforded to them by their setters.  Time will tell if this is a transition in the offense or was just the game plan for GT.
• McCurdy is the leader of this group and remains a consistent blocker.
• Although she is young, Moore is fast with great reach. Very impressed with her play in the middle. She will get better as she gets more exposure to SEC setters.
• Havlicek also has great reach and a plus serve.  Just a step slower than McCurdy and Moore, but this could change throughout the season.