Following a rough battle where the Auburn Tigers (13-4, 4-2) fell against the Missouri Tigers at home, Auburn will seek redemption by attempting to take down the third ranked team in the nation, the Kentucky Wildcats (12-2, 5-0).
The Tigers have been rather back and forth in their last few matches, but remain fairly comfortable at .750 in conference play. Auburn’s most impressive win remains their sweep of the Mississippi State Bulldogs, who were previously undefeated heading into their matchup. The Tigers have faced three ranked opponents thus far but have yet to earn a win against any ranked teams. Conversely, Tthe Wildcats have an incredibly impressive resume, having faced six ranked opponents including the at the time number one ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers, and going 4-2 in these matches.
“We’ve been losing the kill battle for the past couple of matches now, and I was wondering when that was going to catch up to us. We’ve been playing cleaner volleyball, which is good, but we have to find kills, especially at the end of sets,” said Auburn head coach Brent Couch after their match against Missouri.
In this match, Auburn lost the kill battle 60-54, marking the fourth match in a row that they lost the kill battle. Despite this, Lauren Dreves set a new career high in kills, having 20 on the night. Dreves also had 10 digs during this match, marking her fourth double-double of the season. Liz Markovska also had a strong showing, ending the match with 10 kills and 11 digs putting her at two double doubles, and Shanelle Puetz put up 21 assists and 10 digs, marking her fourth double double of the season, putting her at the top of the team with Dreves.
The Kentucky Wildcats are barreling through the SEC, currently being undefeated in conference play and on a nine-game win streak. They are coming off a sweep of the LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge and will get to host the Auburn Tigers, hoping to remain undefeated at home. Brooklyn DeLeye had a standout performance, putting up 20 kills on .326 hitting, also having 11 digs and two block assists. This marked her second 20 kill game of the season, as well her sixth double double, which leads the team. Eva Hudson was the second player on the Wildcats to have double-figure scoring, contributing 10 kills and four digs.
Auburn has one of the best blocking teams in the nation, averaging over 3.00 blocks per set, as well as having the SEC’s leader in blocks per set in sophomore middle blocker Kate Mansfield. This strong defense, also bolstered by Grace Havlicek and Bel Zimmerman, the former of which set a new career high with eight kills in their previous match, supports a well-rounded team that will challenge Kentucky’s high-powered offense led by Hudson and DeLeye, the latter of whom is making a strong case for SEC Player of the Year.
The Auburn Tigers will take on the Kentucky Wildcats on Wednesday, October 15 in Lexington, Kentucky at 6:00 PM CDT. This match will air on SECN+.
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Braden is a freshman majoring in Aviation Management. He started with the Plainsman in fall 2025.
