Volleyball Closes Regular Season At Georgia Wednesday - AuburnTigers.com

Volleyball Closes Regular Season At Georgia Wednesday Regular Season Finale

Christina Solverson

Nov. 23, 2010

AUBURN, Ala. - The Auburn volleyball team closes out the regular season on the road as the Tigers travel to Athens, Ga., for a 6 p.m. CT match Wednesday against the Georgia Bulldogs.

"This is a big match for us," head coach Wade Benson said. "Georgia is a tough place to play and they do very well on their home court. In order for us to make a final push for the postseason, we need to show up, play big and come away with the win."

Live stats are available and can be found on Auburn volleyball's schedule website. Also, get in-match updates by following AUVolleyball on Twitter.

UP NEXT
The Tigers look to become the first team in Auburn history to advance to the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Tournament draw will be aired live on ESPNU between 2-2:30 p.m. CT Sunday.

RPI RANKINGS
Auburn enters the weekend at No. 45 in the latest NCAA Division I Volleyball RPI, the NCAA released Monday. The Tiger squad is the fifth-highest SEC ranked team as Florida is No. 1, Tennessee stands at No. 14, LSU is at No. 15 and Ole Miss is No. 43.

The Tigers were ranked No. 27 in the nation in the first RPI report which was released on Oct. 4. Auburn concluded the 2009 season at No. 81 in the country, jumping 54 spots this year at the start of the poll.

SCOUTING GEORGIA
The Georgia Bulldogs enter the last match of the season with a 15-16 overall mark and are 6-13 in SEC competition. The team is coming off a pair of four-set road victories on the weekend. The Bulldogs traveled to Starkville Friday and came away with the 3-1 win over Mississippi State. The squad followed with another 3-1 win Sunday as the squad topped Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

Senior Valentina Gonzalez leads the team with a .399 attack percentage and has 319 total kills this season. Her attack percentage is good for second in the conference. She is also ninth in the league with an average of 0.27 service aces per set. Junior setter Kathleen Gates is second in the SEC with an average of 10.27 assists per set and has 1,212 assists on the season.

The Bulldogs hold a 31-10 lead in the series history over Auburn. The two teams met in Auburn on Oct. 6 in an ESPNU match. The Tigers came away with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-22) victory. Auburn's Morgan Johns and Sarah Bullock finished with 13 and 12 kills, respectively. Freshman Camila Jersonsky had nine kills on the evening and finished with a .571 attack percentage, while adding two blocks.