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Nov. 17, 2011

@AUVolleyball on Twitter | Auburn Volleyball on Facebook

Auburn vs. South Carolina | Friday, 6 p.m. CT Volleyball Competition Facility | Columbia, S.C.

GameTracker | Live Video | Match Notes

Auburn vs. #17 Florida | Sunday, 12:30 p.m. CT Stephen C. O'Connell Center | Gainesville, Fla.

TV: Sun Sports | GameTracker | Live Video | Match Notes

AUBURN - The Auburn volleyball team makes its ninth and final road trip of the season this weekend as they face a pair of SEC Eastern Division opponents. The Tigers will take on South Carolina at 6 p.m. CT Friday in Columbia, S.C., before heading to Gainesville, Fla., to face the 17th-ranked Florida Gators at 1:30 p.m. Sunday.

Live stats for both matches will be available through AuburnTigers.com, and fans can follow @AUVolleyball on Twitter for updates throughout the weekend.

For Friday's match, GamecocksOnline.com will provide free live streaming video. Sunday's match at Florida will be televised regionally by Sun Sports with Larry Vettel and Missy Whittemore on the call.

The Tigers (10-17, 4-13 SEC) enter the weekend looking to snap a three-game losing skid after dropping matches to LSU, Arkansas and Mississippi State the last two weeks. Senior Kelly Fidero leads the Auburn offense into the weekend with 318 kills on the year (3.21/set); in conference play, she has 232 kills (3.68/set) to rank fifth in the league. Fidero has 962 career kills and three matches left to reach the 1,000-kill plateau, becoming the 13th Auburn player to do so.

In the earlier meetings between the teams, Auburn swept South Carolina 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-17) on Oct. 2 at the Student Activities Center. The Tigers also gave then-No. 13 Florida all they could handle, but eventually fell 3-0 (24-26, 20-25, 23-25) on Sept. 30 at home.

SCOUTING THE GAMECOCKS
South Carolina (12-15, 3-14 SEC) enters the weekend needing to win its final three matches to finish the season with a .500 record for the first time since 2008. The Gamecocks, under first-year head coach Scott Swanson, went 9-1 in non-conference play but have struggled in the conference season, dropping five of their last six and 14 of 17 overall in league play.

Setter Taylor Bruns has been a key component to the Gamecock offense, averaging 9.49 assists/set and leading the team with a .351 attack percentage. Juliette Thevenin and Bethanie Thomas have been the primary hitters, averaging 3.69 and 2.20 kills/set, respectively. The Carolina defense has been its strongest suit, with the team averaging a league-best 16.9 digs/set, led by Paige Wheeler (4.48 digs/set) and Thevenin (3.44 digs/set).

SOUTH CAROLINA SERIES NOTES
South Carolina holds a 19-11 advantage in the all-time series. The Gamecocks won 17 of 18 in the series from 1996-2008; however, the Tigers have won four of the last five meetings, sweeping both meetings in 2010 and the first contest this year. Auburn is 6-9 all-time in Columbia.

SCOUTING THE GATORS
No. 17-ranked Florida (21-5, 14-3 SEC) enters the weekend in third place in the SEC Eastern Division, one game behind Kentucky and two back of Tennessee. The Gators' five losses on the year have all been to teams currently ranked in the AVCA Top 25 - Tennessee (twice), Kentucky, Iowa State and Stanford.

The Florida offense is balanced with Kristy Jaeckel (3.35 kills/set), Kelly Murphy (2.37 k/s), Tangerine Wiggs (2.25 k/s) and Stephanie Ferrell (2.26 k/s) sharing the load. Murphy leads the team with 5.94 assists/set, and the Gator block is among the best in the league with Betsy Smith averaging 1.01 blocks/set. Florida has the league's highest hitting percentage at .301 and holds opponents to the league's lowest number at .164.

FLORIDA SERIES NOTES
Since Auburn revived volleyball in 1986, the Tigers have just one win over the Gators in 38 attempts, a 3-1 triumph at home on Oct. 12, 1990. Florida has since won 34 straight matches in the series with Auburn taking just nine sets in that stretch. Only once since 1990 has an Auburn-Florida match gone five sets, a 3-2 Florida win on Nov. 7, 2010. Auburn has never won at Florida, going 0-14 all-time at the "O-Dome."

A LOOK AHEAD
The Tigers will wrap up the 2011 season on Wednesday, Nov. 23, as they play host to the Georgia Bulldogs at the Student Activities Center. Auburn's two seniors - Kelly Fidero and Christina Solverson - will be honored prior to the 5 p.m. match as part of Senior Night festivities.

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