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Nov. 5, 2009

Match Notes

AUBURN, Ala. - The Auburn volleyball team takes to the road and travels to South Carolina and Florida for a pair of SEC weekend matches. The Tigers face the Gamecocks on Friday at 6 p.m. CT and will take on No. 9/11 Florida on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. CT. Auburn's match against the Gators will be televised by SportsSouth.

"South Carolina is a team that we match up evenly with," Wade Benson, head volleyball coach, said. "It will be anybody's win and we're ready to have a great match against them."

"We want to go into Florida and play our very best volleyball," Benson added. "We're excited for another opportunity to play against a top-ranked team and will use it to see where we stand this late in the season."

TIGERS DROP TO 14-10 ON SEASON
Auburn dropped two SEC matches this past week, falling to 14-10 overall and 6-7 in conference play. The Tigers traveled to Georgia on Oct. 28 and fought the Bulldogs to five sets but fell 3-2.

Junior Morgan Johns tied a season-best with 14 kills, while freshman Katherine Culwell finished with 12 kills and seven digs against Georgia. Libero Liz Crouch had 20 digs on the night, while Sarah Bullock recorded her fifth double-double on the season with 10 kills and 10 kills. Setter Sara Shanks picked up her second double-double of the year, finishing with 20 assists and a season-best 15 digs. Junior Alyssa Davis led the squad with six blocks.

Auburn then traveled to LSU a dropped a 3-0 match in Baton Rouge. Sophomore Kelly Fidero led the squad with eight kills, while Johns and Culwell each had six on the day. Culwell finished with a match-high 21 digs, while Crouch recorded 14 digs.

CONFERENCE LEADERS
Entering the weekend, the Auburn volleyball team remains in the Top 5 in a handful of conference statistics categories. The Tigers are fourth in the SEC in hitting percentage, having a .234 attack percentage. The team has 1099 kills on 2851 attempts. Auburn is also fifth in overall kills, having a 13.08 kills per set average.

With help from team leaders Katherine Culwell and Liz Crouch, Auburn is fifth in service aces per set with 1.18. Katherine Culwell is ninth overall in the SEC with a 0.29 average and a team-best 24 aces.

Auburn setters rank fifth with a 12.39 assist per set average. Leading the way is sophomore Christina Solverson, averaging 5.43 assists per set.

Other top 10 leaders in the conference are juniors Alyssa Davis and Liz Crouch. Davis is sixth overall in attack percentage, recording a .325 hitting percentage with 124 kills on 283 attacks and just 32 errors. Crouch is seventh in digs with a 4.04 dig per set average.

SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS
The Gamecocks enter the weekend with a 12-11 overall record and a 4-10 mark in the SEC. South Carolina is coming off a pair of conference losses, being swept at Mississippi State and falling 3-1 to Alabama last weekend.

Ivana Kujundzic leads the squad with a .225 attack percentage and 280 total kills on the season. Hannah Lawing follows with 242 kills and has a .182 attack percentage. Libero Sarah Cline leads the squad with a 4.59 digs per set average.

FLORIDA GATORS
The Gators are currently ranked No. 9/11 in the country and sit at 18-3 overall and 12-2 in the SEC. The squad picked up a pair of sweeps last weekend on the road, defeating both Alabama and Mississippi State in three sets.

A trio of Gators lead the squad offensively. Colleen Ward has a team-best 236 kills, while Kristy Jaeckel has 235 kills and Kelly Murphy has 233 kills and a team-best .357 attack percentage. Elyse Cusack recorded 4.38 digs per set and leads the squad with 472 total digs.

LAST TIME...
Florida traveled to Auburn on Oct. 16 and came away with a well-contested 3-0 win. Freshman Sarah Bullock finished with a team-high 10 kills and 11 digs, while junior Morgan Johns added nine kills.

The Tigers rebounded from the loss to Florida with a 3-1 win over South Carolina on Oct. 18. Katherine Culwell and Kelly Fidero each finished with 18 kills on the day, while Bullock finished with 10 kills. Culwell had a team-best 12 digs and Alyssa Davis tallied a match-high seven blocks.

UP NEXT
Auburn returns to the Student Activities Center for two SEC matches next weekend. The Tigers take on Tennessee at 4 p.m. on Nov. 13 and then host No. 11 Kentucky at 1:30 p.m. on Nov. 15.

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