LEXINGTON, Ky. – Auburn Volleyball's historic season has come to a close but the postseason awards have started rolling in. Head coach Brent Crouch has been named South Region Coach of the Year the AVCA announced Tuesday.
Freshmen Akasha Anderson and Kendal Kemp also picked up honors. Anderson was awarded South Region Freshman of the Year and landed on the All-Region Team. Kemp was Region Honorable Mention.
Under Crouch's leadership, the Tigers have vaulted to sights unseen for more than a decade on the Plains. Auburn's 14-0 start marked a program record, as was the 3-0 beginning of SEC play this season. Originally picked to finish 12th in the Southeastern Conference, Crouch led his squad to a 22-9 overall record, a 10-8 mark in the SEC and a sixth-place finish. Auburn's 22 victories were the most in the rally-scoring era and the most since 1998.
For just the second time in program history and the first since 2010, the Tigers earned a berth to the NCAA Tournament where they would face host and No. 14 ranked Creighton in the opening round. The Tigers weren't satisfied with making the postseason, Auburn shocked the NCAA Volleyball world with an epic five-set victory over the Bluejays and its first win over a ranked opponent since 2017.
Much of the success of the Tigers has been thanks to the stellar efforts of its freshmen, namely Akasha Anderson and Kendal Kemp.
Anderson, an All-SEC selection, took over a number of matches for the Orange and Blue this season. Her 428 kills on the season rank as the second-most in a single season in school history as does her 3.54 kills per set. Both stats rank top-five in the SEC in 2022. The Reston, Virginia native finished with nine double-doubles on the year, eclipsing 20 kills in eight separate matches.
Kemp, on the other hand, was busy hunting down every Auburn blocking record she find. The 6'6" Eagan, Minnesota product broke the single-season blocks record with three matches still on the regular-season calendar in 2022. Kemp finished the year with a monstrous count of 180 total blocks, the third-most in Division I Volleyball before the Regional round of the Tournament. Along with total blocks, Kemp now holds single-season records in solo blocks (26), block assists (154) and blocks per set (1.48). Not just a weapon on the defensive end, Kemp's offensive prowess was something to marvel as well. Hitting .321, Kemp registered 204 kills and averaged 1.67 kills per set out of the middle.
