AUBURN, Ala. – One more match remains in the regular season for Auburn (20-8, 10-7) as the Tigers play host to No. 9 Arkansas (24-5, 14-3) on Friday, Nov. 24 at 3 p.m. CT for Senior Day.
Doors open at 2 p.m. CT and admission is free. For those unable to make it to Neville Arena, the match will be streamed live on SEC Network Plus.
Five seniors (Cassidy Tanton, Jordan Sinness, Chelsey Harmon, Kyla Swanson and Jackie Barrett) will be honored immediately following the conclusion of the match.
QUICK HITS
Auburn's latest sweep over rival Alabama gave the team its 20th victory of the season, marking back-to-back campaigns with 20 wins or more. It's the first back-to-back 20-win season since 1991-92, the third such year in the rally-scoring era and the 14th 20-win season in program history.
For head coach Brent Crouch, the victory signals his third 20-win season across his decade-long coaching career and the second on the Plains. Crouch also picked up his 150th career victory on Wednesday in the win over the Crimson Tide.
Sophomore middle blocker Kendal Kemp picked up two rejections against Alabama, reaching 300 total blocks in her short career. Kemp became just the eighth Tiger in program history to reach the feat.
Fellow blocking expert Kyla Swanson has proved why she's amongst the top-tier defensive players in the SEC. Swanson's 1.11 blocks per set ranks second on the team and ninth in the SEC. Both Kemp and Swanson enter Friday's contest with 120 blocks on the season.
As a team, Auburn's front row continues to wreak havoc on its opponents. The Tigers have stacked up double-digit blocks in three straight matches and 14 times overall in 2023. At 2.49 blocks per set, the Orange and Blue rank third in the Southeastern Conference and No. 41 in the country. With 274 total blocks, Auburn sits atop the SEC and is ranked 45th in the nation.
Perhaps no one had a better outing against the Crimson Tide than sophomore libero Sarah Morton. The Munster, Indiana product ran down 19 digs in just three sets, averaging an insane 6.33 digs per set in the win. She also added two assists and an ace.
LAST TIME OUT VS ARKANSAS
Injuries plagued an Auburn roster that traveled to Fayette late in September of this year. Madison Scheer led the team with four kills while Sarah Morton and Akasha Anderson each gobbled up seven digs. However, it wasn't enough as the Razorbacks earned the sweep on their home floor.
SCOUTING ARKANSAS
It's been a banner year for head coach Jason Watson and the Razorbacks. Watson enters the final day of the regular season with a 24-5 record and a 14-3 mark in SEC play as well as a top-10 ranking for his program.
The veteran group has been paced by graduate outside hitter Jill Gillen. Gillen is the reigning SEC Player of the Week and is No. 1 in the conference in aces per set and attacks per set, and third in kills per set as well as points per set.
Gillen isn't the only weapon for Watson and the Razorbacks, though. Taylor Head and Sania Petties are among the top-tier attackers not only in the SEC but across the nation as well. Head enters Friday's matchup fifth in the conference in both kills per set and points per set. Meanwhile, Petties' .328 hitting percentage sits seventh in the SEC.
Everything for Arkansas runs through junior setter Hannah Hogue, though. A multiple-time conference setter of the Week, Hogue ranks third in the SEC and fifth in the country in assists per set (11.23) while also securing 0.42 aces per set, which sits second in the conference.
Defensively, middle block Zoe Evans rejects attacks at a rate of 1.12 blocks per set, the eighth-best mark in the SEC. Libero Courtney Jackson makes sure everything else doesn't hit the floor, running down 3.90 digs per set.
AUBURN-ARKANSAS SERIES
Arkansas owns a 42-12 record over Auburn in a matchup that dates back to 1994. The Tigers' last win came in 2018 in sweeping fashion on the Plains.
UP NEXT
Auburn will await its seeding in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, Nov. 26. The Selection Show begins at 5 p.m. CT and will be broadcast live on ESPN. Members of the public are welcome to join the team in the celebration in the Anderson Tiger Den located on the first floor of the Harbert Family Recruiting Center in the southwest corner of Jordan-Hare Stadium. Doors will open at 4:45 p.m. CT.
Auburn Volleyball rounds out regular season with No. 9 Arkansas
