Auburn Morning Rush: Volleyball drops match to LSU, Gymnast among top NIL earners

Good morning, Tiger fans. It is time to dig into the latest news surrounding Auburn athletics.

Today’s rush is dominated heavily by Women’s sports. We begin by recapping Auburn Volleyball’s tough five-set loss to LSU Wednesday, which ends their perfect season. We also preview Auburn Soccer’s road trip to Kentucky on Thursday night, as they look to earn their first SEC win.

Our third news headline involving women’s sports is all about NIL. Which Auburn athlete is among the nation’s most valuable?

Finally, the 2022 SEC Tipoff is set to take place in Birmingham later this month, we reveal Auburn’s representatives for the Basketball media event.

Get your day started by catching up on the latest headlines surrounding Auburn athletics with Thursday’s Auburn Morning Rush:

Auburn Volleyball undefeated no more

Zach Bland/AU Athletics

Auburn Volleyball dropped their first game of the season, falling to LSU in five sets Wednesday night, 3-2.

Auburn and LSU played a tough battle in the first set, with LSU winning 25-20. Auburn would go on to win the next two sets, and LSU came from behind to win the 4th set, forcing a winner-take-all 5th set.

LSU dominated the early portion of the set, leading by as much as 9-1. Auburn chipped away to trim the lead to 10-7 before LSU began another rally.

Akasha Anderson led Auburn with 22 kills while Jackie Barrett had 60 assists. Next up for Auburn Volleyball is a home match with Georgia on Saturday at 4 p.m. CT.

Auburn Soccer travels to Kentucky for key SEC battle

Shanna Lockwood/ AU Athletics

Auburn Soccer (4-3-5) looks to find their first conference win of the season Thursday night in Lexington, as they travel to face Kentucky (7-5) for a key SEC match.

The Tigers are 0-3-1 in SEC play. After losing three straight games by a 1-0 decision, Auburn tied Vanderbilt last Sunday, 1-1. Auburn’s [autotag]Grace Sklopan[/autotag] scored a goal in the 17th minute. The Tigers held onto the lead until the final minute of regulation when Vanderbilt’s Ella Shamburger scored in the 89th minute.

Head coach [autotag]Karen Hoppa[/autotag] has prepared her team all week to play at Kentucky, which is considered to be a great environment for SEC soccer.

“Kentucky is certainly a challenging place to play,” Hoppa said. “They are one of those teams that are better than their record indicates. They have three attacking players that are as good as anyone in the league. Their offense is dangerous, so we’re going to have to keep bringing that shut-down defense if we want to beat them.”

Auburn faces Kentucky Thursday night at 6 p.m. CT. The game can be seen on SEC Network+

Suni Lee among most valuable athletes in women's collegiate sports

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

After winning three medals at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, including a gold medal in the All-Around, it is no surprise that Auburn gymnast [autotag]Suni Lee[/autotag] has racked up plenty of deals through NIL.

According to On3’s NIL 100, which lists the most profitable athletes in NCAA athletics according to NIL value, Lee is No. 2 among women student-athletes, and No. 10 overall.

Lee has a NIL value of $1.5 million, and a social media following of 3.5 million between Instagram, Twitter, and Tik Tok. Several partnerships that Lee has made through NIL include Amazon, Invisalign, Gatorade, and Target.

Lee is second among NCAA gymnasts on the list, trailing only Livvy Dunne of LSU who has a NIL value of $2.3 million.

KD Johnson, Wendell Green Jr. to represent Auburn at SEC Basketball Media Days

AP Photo/Butch Dill

SEC Media Days representatives are being announced, which means that basketball season is just around the corner.

The SEC announced each program’s attendees for the upcoming SEC Tipoff that is set to be held from October 18-19 in Birmingham. Auburn will be represented by [autotag]Aicha Coulibaly[/autotag] and [autotag]Honesty Scott-Grayson[/autotag] from Women’s Basketball, as well as [autotag]Wendell Green Jr.[/autotag] and [autotag]KD Johnson[/autotag] from the Men’s team.

Auburn Men’s Basketball will open the 2022-23 campaign on Nov. 7 against George Mason at Neville Arena, while Women’s Basketball tip off the season one day later at home against Sam Houston State.

Story originally appeared on Auburn Wire