AUBURN, Ala.—Auburn Volleyball(17-2, 6-2 SEC) will be back inside Neville Arena tonight as they look to rebound from a split weekend series against Missouri five days ago. The Tigers, led by Brent Crouch, are in the midst of a historic turnaround on the Plains and are right in the middle of the battle for first in SEC, but they have to go through the Lady Vols of Tennessee(10-10, 4-4 SEC) in a primetime SEC Volleyball match.
The Lady Vols have dominated the rivalry in recent years, winners of six-straight over the Tigers. They are coming to Neville Arena on a two-match losing streak, as they were swept in straight sets in their weekend series against Arkansas on October 14 and 15.
The Lady Vols are a combo of solid offense mixed with a lackluster defense, as Tennesse is fifth in the SEC in hit percentage at .253 and fourth in total kills with 941.
On the defensive side, they have been crushed by opponents, giving up a .243 hit percentage, the worst in the SEC.
The team is also eighth in blocks while Auburn third in the SEC.
For the Tigers, they are looking for their seventh SEC win in nine matches this year, after going just 6-38 in conference play over the previous three seasons.
The Tigers have been without Rebekah Rath for the majority of the season but the offense has not missed a beat behind the combined efforts of Akasha Anderson, Madison Scheer and Bel Zimmerman.
Kendal Kemp has led the defense with a whopping 105 blocks, 32 more than the nearest player on the roster. Kemp has been a force and part of the freshman class that has led this team to such a strong start.
The match is set to tip-off at 7 p.m. CST inside Neville Arena and the game will broadcasted live on WEGL 91.1 FM and weglfm.com in conjunction with the Auburn Sports Network.
