AUBURN, Ala. – The Auburn Volleyball team wraps up non-conference action this weekend, head to Kalamazoo, Mich. for the Western Michigan Tournament hosted by WMU, Sept. 20-21.
"We're anxious to get back in the gym," head coach Rick Nold said. "We feel like there's some things we can really capitalize on and get better with. For us, it's just making sure that we can continue to improve and we're once again facing quality opponents. This should be a good weekend for us."
The Tigers open with a 9 a.m. CT match Friday against Michigan State before facing off with host WMU at 6 p.m. CT. Auburn concludes its non-conference slate against IUPUI at 12 p.m. CT on Saturday.
QUICK HITS
-Auburn (4-4) opened the ADD-RAN Cup with a 3-1 (25-22, 23-25, 24-26, 25-18) victory against Miami. The Tigers then saw their three-game win streak snapped as they fell to host TCU, 3-2, on Sunday.
-Sophomore Tatum Shipes finished with her third double-double of the season leading the Tigers with 13 kills, while also adding 10 digs, three blocks and a pair of aces against Miami.
-Sophomore Marissa Hines chipped in a double-double in both matches last weekend, totaling 37 assists and 13 digs against the Hurricanes, while adding 44 assists and 11 digs against the Horned Frogs.
-Junior Payton White collected 20 or more digs for the third time this season against Miami, while adding 19 against TCU.
UP NEXT
Auburn opens SEC play with two-straight road games, Sept. 27 and Sept. 29. The Tigers will compete against nationally-ranked Florida before closing out the month in Columbia, S.C. against South Carolina.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN STATE
- The Michigan State Spartans are coming off back-to-back sweeps over Oakland and North Carolina.
- The Spartans are averaging 2.96 blocks per set - good for third in the Big Ten and ninth nationally.
- Libero Jamye Cox has posted double-digit dig efforts in each of the seven matches this season, and is averaging 4.36 per set - good for third in the B1G.
SCOUTING WESTERN MICHIGAN
- Western Michigan started the season 8-0 before falling in straight sets to Milwaukee last week.
- The Broncos have been in four, five-set contests so far, coming away with the win each time.
- For the third consecutive week, senior libero Kathleen Reilly has been named Mid-American Conference West Division Defensive player of the week.
- The Broncos were picked to finish second in the MAC West Preseason Coaches' Poll.
SCOUTING IUPUI
- IUPUI is 4-6 on the season and is coming of two-straight tough matches. The Jaguars dropped a pair of three-set matches to Memphis and Indiana State.
- Senior McKayla Wright leads the Jaguars offense with 84 kills, averaging a team-high 3.36 per set.
- Junior Rebecca Schlechte has stepped in as IUPUI's primary setter and this season leads the Jaguars with 7.68 assists per set.