AUBURN, Ala. — Auburn volleyball returns home to Neville Arena after two weeks on the road. The Tigers (11-8, 1-6 SEC) welcome Ole Miss (8-10, 2-5 SEC) to the Plains to kick off a six-match home stand at the Jungle. The Tigers and Rebels are set for an 8 p.m. first serve on Friday, Oct. 23.
The Tigers are coming off a trip to Texas, which featured two promising performances despite the results. Auburn featured a new look in the Lone Star State, moving Kate Mansfield to the right side, allowing Emma Moore to start at middle blocker. Mansfield enters the rotation when Anastasija Ivkovic rotates into the back row. This new rotation allows for a new look on the right side, plus pairs two of the Tigers' top blockers together with Grace Havlicek and Mansfield in the front row at the same time. Moore is seeing consistent starting reps for the first time since an injury that kept her out for the entire 2025 season.
ON THE AIR
- Friday's match will be televised on SEC Network at 8 p.m. CT. Daniel Gillman (PxP) and Leah Edmond (analyst) will be on the call.
LAST TIME OUT
- Auburn dropped its Sunday match at No. 19 Texas A&M, 20-25, 20-25, 29-27, 25-22.
- The Tigers led in each of the first two sets, leading the media timeouts before falling behind due to long Aggie runs.
- Auburn bounced back in the third set with a long 29-27 set victory. The Tigers hit .289 in the frame while holding Texas A&M to .163.
- The Tiger attack was even more prominent in the final set, hitting .355, but the Aggies responded with an even better mark of .389.
- Belle Patrick recorded her third double-double of the season with 16 kills and 17 digs.
- Moore had a breakout performance with a team-high and season-best seven blocks, along with five errorless kills on nine attacks.
- Ivkovic had another stellar match, hitting .529 with nine kills and no errors on just 17 attacks from the right side.
SCOUTING THE REBELS
- Ole Miss enters the Jungle 8-10 overall and 2-5 in SEC play, riding a five-match losing streak.
- The Rebels' current skid started on Oct. 4 with a straight-set loss to Vanderbilt, followed by losses on the road to Tennessee and Kentucky. Ole Miss lost both of its matches last week at home to Georgia and South Carolina.
- Ole Miss won its opening two matches of SEC play. Winning at Alabama, 3-0, and against Missouri in Oxford, 3-1.
- The Rebels boast non-conference wins over Clemson, 3-2, and Ohio State, 3-1. Ole Miss pushed Washington to a fifth set earlier in September.
- UAB transfer Jorda Crook leads Ole Miss with 3.18 kills per set, hitting .194 this season.
- Carly Paugh leads the blocking effort with 1.05 blocks per set.
- Libero Cameron Bradley's 4.93 digs per set rank at the top of the SEC and 11th overall in DI.
- The Rebels do not rank above 199th in the nation in any major statistical category.
SERIES HISTORY
- Ole Miss leads the all-time series between the programs, 37-34.
- Auburn has won 12 of the last 16 matchups against the Rebels.
- The Tigers are 15-12 at home against Ole Miss.
- Last season, the Tigers swept the Rebels in Oxford, 25-21, 25-21, 25-21.
- Auburn benefited greatly from Ole Miss errors in last October's meeting. The Rebels out-killed Auburn 40-35, but committed three times the attack errors (24-8) that the Tigers did.
- Lauren Dreves led current Tigers with eight kills, behind Liz Markovska's team-high 10 kills.
- Mansfield led Auburn with six blocks.
UP NEXT
- Auburn hosts LSU at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 25 at Neville Arena. LSU currently sits 8-9 with a 3-5 record in SEC play, but will visit the No. 5 Florida Gators before making the trip to Auburn.
—War Eagle—