AU ROUNDUP: Soccer hosts Vanderbilt in 'Power in Pink' game

The Auburn soccer team will play host to Vanderbilt tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the second annual “Power In Pink” matchup between the two schools.

All donations made at the match will benefit the East Alabama Medical Center Foundation Breast Cancer Fund.

“We are happy to be back at home and we are hoping for a big crowd on Friday night. This is a big weekend for us,” Auburn head coach Karen Hoppa said.

“The girls will be wearing pink jerseys and Wilson has sent us pink game balls, so it’s a great cause and also a big match for the team.”

Auburn is 5-6-3, 2-4-0 SEC while Vanderbilt is 7-6-1, 1-5-0 SEC.

Auburn’s 6 points in conference play places it seventh in the overall conference standings while Vanderbilt is 11th with 3 points.

Auburn is 4-6-2 all-time against Vanderbilt, winning each of the last two meetings by a goal. Last year in the first “Power In Pink” match held in Nashville, Tenn., Auburn claimed a 3-2 win.

Fans are encouraged to wear pink to the match and the first 250 fans into the gates will receive a beanbag koozie from Verizon Wireless.

Following the Vanderbilt match, Auburn will play Kentucky at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

Admission to both matches is free.

Volleyball hosting Florida, South Carolina
Auburn volleyball hosts a pair of SEC matches this weekend at the Student Activities Center, beginning with a match against No. 9 Florida tonight at 6 p.m.

The match will host the “Dig For The Cure” event, which is a part of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

“Florida is always a big match and it will show us where we are compared to the top teams in country and conference,” volleyball coach Wade Benson said. “This is a match that allows us to show our hard work is moving forward. We’re getting closer to the point where we capable beating them and I’m really excited for this match.”

The first NCAA Division I Volleyball RPI of 2009 came out earlier this week, putting Auburn No. 69 in the nation. The Tigers are currently 11-7 overall and 3-4 in Southeastern Conference play.

“We are very excited to be moving into the top 70 in the nation and look to move past that into the top 60,” Benson said. “It is apparent that things are moving in the right direction for Auburn volleyball.

“However, we still haven’t reached our goals, one being to make the NCAA tournament. It is a goal that we are striving and training for on a day-to-day basis.”

Auburn jumped 163 spots from last season, when the team finished No. 232 in the country. The young squad is the fifth-highest ranked team in the SEC, currently behind No. 9 Florida, No. 11 LSU, 13th-ranked Kentucky and No. 20 Tennessee.

Auburn closes out the weekend with a Sunday matchup against South Carolina at 2:30 p.m.

“Sunday’s match is one that will feature two very even teams,” Benson said. “It’s going to be a very good match and is one we’ve been pushing and training to win.”

Equestrian hosts Texas A&M
The Auburn equestrian team will host Texas A&M today at 3 p.m. at the Auburn Equestrian Center. Admission is free.

“This is going to be a tough meet,” said Auburn head coach Greg Williams. “Texas A&M is the defending national champion Western team. They’re one of the most balanced teams in the country. They won the Western national championship last year, but the year before that, they were battling us when we won the Hunt Seat national championship. They’re going to be really deep in both arenas. They just came off of a good win against Fresno State, and I know this is going to be a big road test for them. We hope that we’re going to be able to compete with a good home stand against them. ”

The Tigers are 3-1 on the season with their wins coming against Texas Christian, Southern Methodist and Tennessee-Martin. The Aggies are 1-0, having won their season opener against Fresno State.

Riding for the Tigers in Hunt Seat Equitation on the Flat are Chelsea Anheuser, Katie Breedlove, Maggie McAlary, Lindsay Portela and Anna Schierholz, with Anna Becker on exhibition, Dottie Grubb on demonstration and Grace Socha as the alternate. Riding in Hunt Seat Equitation over Fences are Becker, Grubb, McAlary, Schierholz and Grace Socha, with Mallory Kolpin on exhibition, Annie Loar on demonstration and Anheuser as the alternate.

Riding for the Tigers in Western Horsemanship are Bailey Dymond, Kristin Hansen, Jessica Jones, Kylie Miller and Indy Roper, with Paige Monfore on exhibition, Jessica Remey on demonstration and Mary Casey as the alternate. Riding in Western Reining are Jillian Fuller, Hansen, Lyndsey Jordan, Monfore and Kim Pope, with Shannon Hinton on exhibition and Kelsey George as the alternate.

Men’s golf heads to tourney in Tenn.
The Auburn men’s golf team arrived in Johnson City, Tenn., on Thursday in preparation for the 2009 Bank Of Tennessee Intercollegiate at the Ridges Golf Club, held today through Sunday.

Sophomore Kyle Kopsick will lead the Tigers in the No. 1 position.

“This will be our fourth tournament of the fall,” said Auburn head coach Nick Clinard. “We’re looking for our three and four guys to start scoring some lower numbers by this point in the season. Cole Moreland and Kyle Kopsick were here last season. Their experience will be crucial in aiming for a high team finish.“

Kopsick was ranked ninth in the nation by the most recent GolfWeek/Sagarin ratings and leads all Tigers with a 69.43 scoring average. The Chicago native has three top-20 finishes so far this season, highlighted by a victory at the Gary Koch Invitational in Tampa, Fla.

Also competing at the Ridges will be sophomore John Stembridge (72.28), senior Cole Moreland (71.75), freshman David Zickler (73.86) and sophomore Will McCurdy (74.86).

Moreland led all Tigers at the 2008 Bank of Tennessee, tying for 18th with a 4-over 220. The Tigers have made nine appearances at The Ridges with their best showing coming in a runner-up finish in the 2005 field of 15. Coastal Carolina returns to the event as the defending champions, having held off ETSU by just one stroke in last year’s tournament.

The field for this year’s event will include 10 teams currently ranked in the nation’s Top 50 by Golfweek/Sagarin. Making the trip are No. 8 Oregon State, No. 11 N.C. State, No.13 Tennessee, No. 23 Kent State, No. 30 Auburn, No. 31 Virginia, No. 38 North Carolina, No. 41 Coastal Carolina, No. 43 Wake Forest, No. 49 Virginia Tech, Duke, host ETSU, Missouri, UAB and UNC-Wilmington.

The Tigers are set to tee off at 9:10 a.m. with Duke and Oregon State.

Thursday’s Fall Ball games rained out
The Auburn softball games scheduled for Thursday were postponed due to rain.

The games will be re-scheduled for next week, but no day or time has been set. The Tigers were scheduled to play Southern Union and Darton Community College.

The Tigers will still play their already scheduled games next Thursday against Central Alabama at 5 p.m. and Jefferson State at 7 p.m. in the final games of the fall.