Tatum Shipes has been honored as the Southeastern Conference's Defensive Player of the Week after Auburn’s three matches this past week.
Across those matches, Shipes averaged 2.27 blocks per set which brings up her season average to 1.59 blocks per set, good for 12th in the nation.
Shipes has 78 total blocks this season, which ranks first in the SEC and seventh in the country.
Her defensive skill was on full display in the opening series against in-state rival Alabama. Shipes broke the program record for blocks in a game with 12, as Auburn won 3-2 over the Crimson Tide. The previous record of 11 was set in November during the 2017 season. Auburn tied a team record of 18 blocks in this game, largely thanks to Shipes.
Shipes followed that performance with a seven block game – again versus Alabama – to lead Auburn to its first back-to-back SEC wins since November 2018 after sweeping Alabama.
The performance from Shipes gave her the first Defensive Player of the Week award of her career.
A year after going winless, Auburn is now 10-4 overall and 2-2 in conference play. The Tigers travel to Fayetteville this weekend to take on Arkansas in a couple of matches. The series begins Saturday at 5 p.m. CST. The second match starts at 3 p.m. CT on Sunday. Both games can be found on SEC Network-plus.
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Jacob is a sophomore from Leeds, Alabama. This is his second year with The Auburn Plainsman.
Twitter: @JacobWaters_
