Another season of Auburn Volleyball (3-0) has begun under head coach Brent Crouch, and the Tigers are facing the Alabama State Hornets (0-3) in the 2022 home opener.
Auburn is returning home following a sweep of the Georgia State Tournament over the weekend. The Tigers defeated Belmont 3-0 and Georgia State 3-1 on August 26 before handling Marist 3-1 on Saturday.
The X-factor for the Tigers was 6-foot 6-inch middle blocker Kendal Kemp, who finished the tournament with 23 total blocks, 14 kills and five aces. Kemp’s nine blocks in her debut tied the record for the most in program history for a three-set match.
For her efforts, Kemp was named SEC Co-Freshman of the Week, a hot start to her young career.
“Her serving has improved so much since day one,” said Auburn head coach Brent Crouch. “At some point, I truly believe she’ll be one of the best servers in the SEC. I really liked how she stepped up towards the end of the last match.”
Kemp led the charge for a Tigers team that is one of the youngest in the SEC, including seven freshman. Auburn lost five seniors from a year ago and Rebekah Rath is leading the team as the only senior on the roster.
“We had four freshmen start against Belmont with a totally new lineup. I expected there to be some growing pains and there were but it was nice when everyone started settling down,” Crouch said
Rath picked up right where she left off last season after setting the program single-season record for kills, finishing the weekend with 39 kills overall and 4 kills per set.
The Hornets of Alabama State have struggled to start the year, losing all three matches in the Cactus Classic, including two sweeps by Arizona and New Mexico State University. Despite this, the Hornets are still a formidable foe, and head coach Penny Lucas-White has three Preseason All-SWAC selections on the roster.
Thursday’s match between the Tigers and Hornets is set to begin at 7 p.m. CST. The match will be the Tigers’ first inside Neville Arena and will also be broadcasted live on WEGL 91.1 FM and on weglfm.com, in conjunction with the Auburn Sports Network.
