Brent Crouch hoping for winning SEC record out of his team

The Auburn volleyball team is preparing for its first two SEC home games of the season.

The Tigers are 11-2 and won their SEC opener against Arkansas last week in Fayetteville. Belle Patrick led the way for Auburn with 29 kills. The season began with a nine-game road trip across four different cities. Head Coach Brent Crouch talked about how that can prove to be helpful as his team gets deeper into the season.

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“It absolutely matters if you are home or away,” Crouch said. “There is a home court advantage for sure. I like that that’s reversed. I also like that we should not feel as tired at the end of the year. It’s exhausting going on the road…they gutted it out. We got through it…I think we are going to feel a lot better than we did last year.”

Against the Razorbacks, Auburn dropped the first two sets. Crouch said he then made the decision to insert outside hitter Lauren Dreves into the game.

Dreves was injured the bulk of the year and just recently was cleared to play. Crouch touched on how her presence helped fuel the Tigers’ comeback.

“I’m like we are going to lose this match after watching the first set,” Crouch said. “She gutted it out and played the rest. We lost the second but it was a two-point game. She then got rolling in the third, fourth and fifth and we were able to reverse sweep them. Hopefully she is feeling closer to 100 percent Friday.”

Auburn’s first opponent is the No.3 Kentucky Wildcats on Friday. The Tigers will then play the No. 13 Tennessee Volunteers on Sunday. Crouch said ESPN’s FPI gives them a 20 percent chance to beat Kentucky and a 48 percent chance to win against Tennessee. Crouch hopes winning one, if not both, matches will help their postseason chances.

“I’ve told the team let’s go 9-6,” Crouch said. “That I think will significantly guarantee us above .500. We only play 15 games in the SEC. If we end at or above that number, I think it doesn’t matter what the RPI is. We start getting to 8-7, 7-8, I think we are in trouble.”

Tip-off between Auburn and Kentucky is set for 6 p.m. Sunday’s match against Tennessee will begin at 2 p.m. Both matches will be held inside Neville Arena.

Auburn Undercover is an independent Auburn sports media company covering Auburn athletics, recruiting and insider news.