LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It just wasn't Auburn's afternoon inside in the KFC Yum! Center on Thursday.
The Tigers (20-10, 10-8) couldn't find a way past Western Michigan (31-2, 18-0), falling in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-19).
A slow start troubled Auburn in the early going. Tough serving from the Broncos, combined with a couple of unforced errors put Auburn in an early 7-1 hole.
Even though Kyla Swanson was a perfect 3-3 and the offense hit close to .250, the Broncos managed a hitting percentage north of .300, keeping any late Orange and Blue rallies at bay and taking the opening frame, 25-18.
Set No. 2 was eerily similar to the first. Swanson continued to shine as the Wahoo, Nebraska native finished the second frame still perfect, 7-7. She even added to the cause at the service line, dialing up a career-high three aces.
Kentucky transfer Bella Bell also turned in four solid kills on her ten swings. Bell would end the match with seven kills on .467 hitting.
Still, Western Michigan dug nearly every ball in sight. In turn, solid passing led to another set with a hitting percentage in the .300's.
When the dust settled in the second, Auburn trailed, 2-0.
Madison Scheer did her best to keep her team in the fight throughout the third set. Scheer led the Tigers with five kills with Bella Bell and Akasha Anderson close behind with a three apiece.
The Eureka, Missouri native would finish the match with a team-high 11 kills on a solid .290 hitting.
Defensively, it was Bell and Swanson doing most of the heavy lifting on the front row. Swanson grabbed four blocks while Bell added three of her own. In the back row, Sarah Morton paced the defensive specialists with a team-high 13 digs.
No matter what the team tried, though, Western Michigan had the answer. Seemingly never out of system, the Broncos hit north of .400 once more, propelling WMU to a 3-0 win and ending what was another incredible season for head coach Brent Crouch the Auburn Tigers.
MATCH NOTES
- Auburn ends its with at least 20 wins for the second straight season. It's the first time since 1991-92 the Tigers have managed the feet.
- Madison Scheer (11 kills) reached double digits for the 24th time this season
- Scheer has also reached at least 10 kills in all three NCAA Tournament matches she's played in
- Kyla Swanson went for seven kills on an insane .875 hitting percentage
- Swanson's three service aces were a career-high
- Sarah Morton (13 digs) reached double digits for the 17th match this year
- Morton also has had at least 10 digs in all three NCAA Tournament matches she's played in
CROUCH'S COMMENTS
Head coach, Brent Crouch
"We ran into a really good team tonight that played great. Hats off to Western Michigan. There's a reason they're 30-2, and we weren't taking them lightly. They're a great team and they're well-coached, mature and confident. You can just see it when they walk out there, so I think they're going to give a good battle tomorrow night. That'll be a fun match to see. The story of the match was that we didn't have a real hard time scoring on offense. I don't know what we hit for the match, but it was at a decent clip, and we just couldn't keep them off the net. There's a reason you train to serve tough and you try to get them out of system and when we did, we would do okay against them, but they were in system way too much and just right up on the net and just really good with first contacts. I was really impressed with them. Not only were they doing it in serve receive, but they were doing it in digging. Their libero over there [Andelyn Simkins] is really good and digging right on the net. When you're right on the net, it's tough to defend, and we just had a hard time defending them tonight. They did a good job."
Kyla Swanson, Gr. MB
On her year with Auburn and her success at the net…
"I'm just extremely grateful to have been able to a part of this Auburn team for my grad year and we proved so much along the year. We were also working hard to get a lot of balls along the net in order to get me involved tonight. When we did, Jackie (Barrett) put it up in a great spot and I was able to execute."
Jackie Barrett, Sr. S
On her career at Auburn…
"Being a part of Auburn has meant more to me than anything. I committed and it was just an amazing experience from day one. Talk about the Auburn Family. Auburn has a lot of tradition and all of it is so true. It was so awesome to be able to see the Auburn Family this year and last year especially really coming around and supporting us. Seeing all those fans out there today and just being able to experience this throughout the four years with Brent (Crouch). Seeing this team grow and seeing the girls grow from last year to this year. It's just awesome to be able to be a part of this family and I know I'm always going to be there for them and they'll always be there for me."