As another season under Brent Crouch comes near an end, Auburn looks toward its final slate of conference play. Auburn will take on Alabama on Wednesday, Nov. 22, and No. 9 Arkansas on Friday, Nov. 24.
Auburn snapped a three-match losing streak when the Tigers swept LSU last Sunday. Auburn dominated the match outside of the final set, where the Tigers won 25-23. Now, the Tigers will turn their attention toward Alabama.
The Crimson Tide volleyball team started the season off well. However, since their victory over Grambling State back on Sept. 16, it seems that everything has gone wrong for Alabama. The Crimson Tide are currently on a 16-match losing streak, with the last victory coming over Grambling State. Their record is 10-17.
The Crimson Tide struggles have been apparent. The last time Alabama won a set was in their Nov. 5 contest against LSU, which they lost 3-1.
Alabama is lead by Kendyl Reaugh and Alyiah Wells. Reaugh leads the Crimson Tide in kills with 280 on the season. Wells is second on the team in kills with 240.
Auburn faced Alabama earlier in the season on Oct. 29, and the Tigers won that matchup in Tuscaloosa 3-1.
Auburn will later in the week face off against a highly-ranked Arkansas volleyball squad. Auburn faced Arkansas earlier this season, with the Razorbacks winning with a sweep over the Tigers back in September.
Arkansas has been ranked highly in the polls all season long with the Razorbacks currently ranked ninth as the Razorbacks hold a 24-4 on the season.
Arkansas has only lost two conference matches, one on the road at Kentucky and another road loss at Georgia. The other two losses came to a powerhouse program in Wisconsin. Arkansas is currently on a four-match winning streak, and the Razorbacks swept two of their opponents over that span.
Jill Gillen has helped lead the Razorbacks to a successful season alongside Taylor Head and Maggie Cartwright. These three have done their fair share of helping lead Arkansas to a high ranking and are the three leaders in kills for the Razorbacks.
When these two faced back in September, Arkansas jumped out early in sets. The Razorbacks slammed the door on Auburn's offense, with the last two sets being blowouts. With the Razorbacks winning the match 3-0 (25-18, 25-10, 25-6) The Razorbacks could look to go for a similar strategy.
Auburn has been led by Madison Scheer and Akasha Anderson. Scheer has 345 kills on the season while Anderson has 322 kills.
The Tigers will look to close out the regular season with a victory over Alabama and a big victory over a ranked conference foe in Arkansas.
Auburn will take on Alabama on Wednesday, Nov. 22, at 6:30 p.m. CST on SEC Network+. Auburn will then take on Arkansas Friday, Nov. 24, at 6:30 p.m. CST on SEC Network+. Both contests will take place at Neville Arena.
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TP is a senior from Montgomery, Alabama, majoring in journalism. He started with The Plainsman in fall 2022.
Twitter: @tp_hammock
