Auburn volleyball looks for a win at home against the South Carolina Gamecocks for the annual Military Appreciation Match on Wednesday night.
Coming off a historic win against Texas A&M to split the series with the Aggies, the Tigers are looking for some home momentum as the regular season is rapidly coming to an end. After the split series against A&M, Auburn holds a conference record of 5-8 and an overall record of 13-10.
The South Carolina Gamecocks are coming off a season highlight series with formerly No. 5 Kentucky, where they split the home series against the Wildcats to have a conference record of 5-9 and 13-11 overall. With this momentum, the Gamecocks are looking to climb the Southeastern Conference rankings with a win against Auburn.
Neither team put up great offensive numbers in each of their last matches, with Auburn hitting just .186 with the win over A&M and South Carolina hitting .122 in the loss against Kentucky. However, the Tigers have not beaten the Gamecocks since 2017, with the last home game win against South Carolina coming in 2016.
Rebekah Rath, the SEC leader in kills and points per set, totaled 41 kills against Texas A&M, while Liz Reich and Val Green totalled 19 and 18 kills respectively. The defense also got it done against the Aggies, with Elif Yavuz totaled seven blocks and Tatum Shipes was not far behind with six. Freshman defensive specialist Fallan Lanham led the Tigers in digs against the Aggies with a total of 32.
The Aggies had staggering differences in match statistics against Kentucky. However, sophomore Riley Whitesides led the Aggies with a total of 26 kills. Graduate student setter Mallory Dixon totaled 40 assists and freshman setter Claire Wilson totaled 27 assists.
Match Keys:
The defense has remained strong throughout the whole season for the Tigers, and it must remain so when the Gamecocks come to town. Auburn needs to be looking to improve upon its offensive game and be aggressive with the attempts, especially as defense for the Gamecocks is one of their weakest spots.
One advantage South Carolina has over Auburn is the different offensive strategy. The Gamecocks run with two setters to Auburn’s one in Jackie Barrett. This setup with the setters, Dixon and Wilson, allows for the Gamecocks to always have three hitters on the front row instead of running a 5-1. This could be a game-changer as this allows for more hitting options for South Carolina.
If Auburn can keep the attack and serve errors to a minimum, plus keep the offensive attack diverse and rolling, the Tigers have a good chance to win the match. The Gamecocks need to shut down this emerging diverse attack plan at the net and be good at the service line to throw the Tigers off-balance.
The match is scheduled on Wednesday, Nov. 10, in Auburn Arena. The first serve will be at 8 p.m. CST and will be streamed on the SEC Network.
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Emily Porch is a senior from Sylacauga, Alabama. She joined The Plainsman in fall 2021.
Twitter: @emilycporch
