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Oct. 8, 2011

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Auburn at Mississippi State | Sunday, 1 p.m. CT | TV: Cox Sports Newell-Grissom Building | Starkville, Miss.

Live Stats | Match Notes

AUBURN - The Auburn Tigers (9-8, 3-4 SEC) continue a four-match road swing on Sunday, Oct. 9, as they travel to Starkville, Miss., to face Mississippi State. First serve is set for 1 p.m. CT at the Newell-Grissom Building.

Cox Sports Television will carry a regional broadcast that will be available primarily in the states of Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi. Todd Kalas and Maria Taylor will have the call as the Tigers will play their second of four televised matches in 2011.

Auburn enters Sunday's match led offensively by senior Kelly Fidero, who has 175 kills (3.07/set) on the season, ranking 10th in the SEC. In Southeastern Conference play, Fidero ranks fourth in the league in kills with 89 (4.05/set) and ninth in hitting percentage at .346. Sarah Bullock anchors the other side of the floor with 71 kills (3.23/set) in SEC play and 70 digs, ranking ninth in the league in kills/set in SEC matches. Chelsea Wintzinger has emerged as the team's primary setter, averaging 9.18 assists/set in SEC play to rank 6th in the league; she had a career-high 40 assists vs. Georgia on Wednesday.

The Tigers will look to rebound from a tough road loss at Georgia on Wednesday night where the Bulldogs took a 3-1 victory, despite a stellar performance from Bullock (17 kills, 20 digs).

Live stats will be available through mstateathletics.com, and fans can follow @AUVolleyball on Twitter for live updates throughout the match.

SCOUTING MISSISSIPPI STATE
The Bulldogs (9-9, 3-5 SEC) have already equaled their win total from the 2010 season and had won three SEC matches in a row before falling to Georgia at home Friday night. MSU is led by senior outside hitter Caitlin Rance with 254 kills (4.23/set). Freshman Lainey Wyman has been impressive as well, amassing 156 kills (2.60/set) and a team-high 65 blocks (1.08/set). Defensively, Bentley Witte and Hillary Parker each have 170 digs, and Witte leads the team with 13 service aces.

MISSISSIPPI STATE SERIES NOTES
Auburn owns a 30-14 advantage in the all-time series with Mississippi State. The Tigers have won the last five matches in the series, dropping just one set in that span. MSU's last win came in 2008 when the Bulldogs took a 3-2 victory in Starkville. Auburn is 12-10 all-time in Starkville.

LAST TIME vs. MSU - NOV. 21, 2010
Auburn pulled off another come-from-behind victory and pulled off a 3-1 (23-25, 25-17, 25-22, 25-22) win over Mississippi State at the Newell-Grissom Building.

With the win, Auburn improved to 19-12 on the season and 10-9 in the SEC. The 19 wins mark the first time since 1999 that the Tigers have reached that amount of victories and the 10 conference wins are the most since 1997.

Senior Morgan Johns finished the day with 13 kills to lead the Tigers. Junior Kelly Fidero tallied the first double-double of her career, recording 12 kills and 12 digs. Freshman setter Chelsea Wintzinger picked up her third double-double of the season as she finished with 19 assists and 10 digs.

Senior libero Liz Crouch had a match-high 25 digs, while classmate Lauren Mellor had a team-best four blocks for the Auburn defense. Freshman Kathia Rud had eight kills and six digs, while sophomore Sarah Bullock also finished with eight kills.

Mississippi State (11-19, 3-16 SEC) was led by Caitlin Rance with 14 kills and 11 digs. Libero Kayla Woodard had 22 digs for the Bulldogs, while setter Paris Perret recorded 34 assists.

A LOOK AHEAD
Auburn will stay on the road for another pair of matches as they make their swing through the western edge of the SEC. The Tigers will travel to Fayetteville to face Arkansas on Friday, Oct. 14, before heading to Baton Rouge to play LSU on Sunday, Oct. 16.

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