W. Volleyball. Auburn Hosts Alabama A&M for Home Volleyball Opener

Aug. 29, 2011

GameTracker^[1] | Match Notes^[2]

@AUVolleyball on Twitter^[3] | Auburn Volleyball on Facebook^[4]

AUBURN - The Auburn volleyball team welcomes in-state rival Alabama A&M to the Student Activities Center on Tuesday, Aug. 30, for the Tigers' home opener. First serve is set for 7 p.m.

The Tigers enter the match with a record of 1-1 after splitting a pair of contests over the weekend in Gainesville, Fla., at the Active Ankle Challenge. North Carolina tripped up the Tigers on Friday night, 3-0, but Auburn bounced back and earned the first victory of the Rick Nold^[5] era on Saturday with a 3-0 sweep of Boston College. Alabama A&M is 1-3 after opening its season at the University of Memphis Tournament.

Admission is free to all Auburn home volleyball matches. Tuesday will be "Student Organization Night" at Auburn volleyball as the two student groups with the most members in attendance will have the chance to compete to win a ping-pong table for their organization. In addition, the first 100 students through the doors will receive a free bag of popcorn.

Live stats are available via GameTracker at AuburnTigers.com, and fans can follow @AUVolleyball on Twitter for frequent updates throughout the match.

***IMPORTANT FACILITY AND PARKING INFORMATION*** Due to construction on the Auburn campus on all sides of the Student Activities Center, volleyball fans must enter the building off Biggio Drive which is on the south side of building. CLICK HERE^[6] for more information and a campus map. Parking will be available in the C-lot on the east side of Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum.

HOME OPENERS Auburn opens the 2011 home season Tuesday at the Student Activities Center against Alabama A&M. It will be the first of 11 home matches for the Tigers this season. The Tigers are 19-6 all-time in home openers, having won five of the last seven. Auburn defeated Troy 3-0 in the 2010 home opener during the War Eagle Invitational.

ABOUT THE TIGERS Sophomore middle blocker Chloe Rowand^[7] leads the Tiger hitters with a .387 hitting percentage after tallying 13 kills (2.17/set) in the two weekend matches against North Carolina and Boston College. She also averaged 1.5 blocks/set as she was part of nine block assists over the two matches. Fellow sophomore Vesela Zapryanova^[8] was named to the Active Ankle Challenge all-tournament team after recording 10 kills and a team-leading 19 digs over the course of the weekend.

SCOUTING ALABAMA A&M Alabama A&M enters Tuesday's match at 1-3 overall after their weekend at the University of Memphis Tournament. The Bulldogs defeated Southeast Missouri 3-1 for their first win of the season, but lost in straight sets to both Georgia State and Memphis and fell 3-1 to Arkansas-Little Rock.

The Bulldogs are hitting .173 as a team through four matches, including a .272 mark against SEMO. In their win over the Redhawks, AAMU had 51 kills and 66 digs, both season highs. Alabama A&M is led by Clarissa Moore and Karensa Beckford, who are hitting .223 and .222, respectively. Beckford is averaging 3.93 kills/set with Moore hitting for 3.00 k/s. Ashley Forman is the primary setter with 89 assists (6.36/set), and Audrey Harris leads the defensive effort with 3.79 digs/set.

ALABAMA A&M SERIES HISTORY Auburn is 5-0 all-time against Alabama A&M. The Tigers beat the Bulldogs twice during the 1986 season, both by a 2-0 count. The teams have met three times in the last six seasons, with Auburn winning 3-1 in 2006 and taking a pair of 3-0 victories on the opening weekend of the 2009 season.

CAREER WEEKEND FOR CHLOE In a weekend where she earned her first two collegiate starts, sophomore middle blocker Chloe Rowand^[9] put together two very impressive performances against North Carolina and Boston College. Rowand led the team with a .387 hitting percentage in two matches (13 kills, 1 error, 31 total attacks), including an outstanding .750 mark against Boston College (9-0-12). She also led the team with nine blocks.

Coming into the weekend, Rowand had tallied seven kills and seven blocks during the entirety of the 2010 season. She surpassed that in just two matches in 2011.

A LOOK AHEAD This will be the Tigers' only home match in the first four weeks of the season. Auburn will hit the road Thursday afternoon for a weekend tournament at the Blue Raider Bash in Murfreesboro, Tenn. On Friday, Auburn will face Florida International, then play Austin Peay and tournament host Middle Tennessee on Saturday. Sunday's finale will feature a battle of the Tigers as Auburn meets Missouri.

References

1. ^{^} GameTracker (onlyfans.cstv.com)
2. ^{^} Match Notes (grfx.cstv.com)
3. ^{^} @AUVolleyball on Twitter (twitter.com)
4. ^{^} Auburn Volleyball on Facebook (www.facebook.com)
5. ^{^} Rick Nold (onlyfans.cstv.com)
6. ^{^} CLICK HERE (auburntigers.cstv.com)
7. ^{^} Chloe Rowand (onlyfans.cstv.com)
8. ^{^} Vesela Zapryanova (onlyfans.cstv.com)
9. ^{^} Chloe Rowand (onlyfans.cstv.com)