A Memorial Service for Cindy Wall, who worked in the Auburn Athletics Department for the past 17 years, will be held at Cornerstone United Methodist Church, 2123 Hamilton Road, Auburn today at 4 p.m.

A Celebration Reception will follow at the church.

Wall, who joined the Auburn Athletics Department in January 1991, spent the entirety of her time working in the sports medicine department. Wall, 45, passed away suddenly on Wednesday.

“We are terribly saddened by this sudden and tragic loss,” said Auburn Athletics Director Jay Jacobs. “Cindy touched the lives of countless individuals in her 17 years at Auburn and she will be missed dearly. Our thoughts and prayers are with Cindy’s family, friends and our Auburn Family during these difficult times.”

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Tigers Unlimited Foundation in memory of Cindy Wall. All donations will be for the benefit of graduate assistants working in Auburn’s Sports Medicine Department who are working on their Master’s Degree.

Soccer opens SEC play with two games
The Auburn soccer team will open up Southeastern Conference play this weekend when it travels to Kentucky and Vanderbilt.

Sunday’s game in Nashville, Tenn., will air regionally on FSN as part of SEC-TV, and will also be a ‘Power in Pink’ contest in an effort to raise awareness of breast cancer.

“We are excited about playing Vanderbilt in a game that will have more meaning than just wins and losses,” Auburn Head Coach Karen Hoppa said. “Many people have been affected by breast cancer, and as a group our team has had family members affected by it. Hopefully we can raise a lot of awareness on Sunday as we play a good Vanderbilt team.”

The Power in Pink initiative started this year with 10 collegiate teams participating this fall. The games were selected based on when two schools which wear Under Armour uniforms play each other. The day of the game, representatives for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center will be stationed at the Vanderbilt Soccer Complex to hand out materials and answer questions.

The Kentucky match will begin at 6 p.m. today.

Volleyball travels to Bama, Miss. State
The Auburn volleyball team (5-8, 0-2 SEC) returns to action this weekend with its first Southeastern Conference road trip of the season as the Tigers head to Alabama (7-4, 0-2 SEC) and Mississippi State (5-8, 0-2 SEC).

Auburn is coming off an 0-2 start after last weekend’s losses at home to Arkansas (3-2) and Ole Miss (3-0), but first-year head coach Wade Benson says his young team was able to learn a lot in its conference-opening weekend.

The Tigers start off the weekend at in-state rival Alabama today.

Alabama returns nine letterwinners and three starters from a team that went 15-15 (12-8 SEC) in 2007, including a sweep over Auburn.

Action continues Sunday as the Tigers travel to Mississippi State.

MSU returns six letterwinners and two starters from its 2007 squad that went 12-17, 7-13 SEC. The Bulldogs also earned a series sweep over Auburn last season.

Women’s golf heads to Mason Rudolph
The No. 9 Auburn’s women’s golf team will play in the Mason Rudolph Women’s Championship at the par-72, 6,217 yard Vanderbilt Legends Club in Franklin, Tenn., today-Sunday.

“We have a really young team,” head coach Kim Evans said. “We are looking forward to growing up together over the next few months and years. We have a great group of kids that are committed to getting better. We are going to stay with one simple goal to improve each tournament.”

Auburn will be led by a trio of sophomores, along with a veteran and a rookie. All-American Cydney Clanton will lead the way for the Tigers.

Behind her will be fellow sophomores Candance Schepperle, a two-time second-team All-SEC pick, and Sarah Thead. Senior Mariana Macias and freshman Patricia Sanz of Madrid, Spain, round out the weekend’s roster.

Freshman Madison Overbey will play individually at the three-day tournament.

Auburn will paired with Arizona and Oklahoma State and tee off from hole No. 1 at 8 a.m.

Perry named Track & Field assistant coach
Candace Perry has been named an assistant coach for the Auburn track and field program, head coach Ralph Spry announced.

Perry comes to Auburn after serving as a graduate assistant coach at Southeast Missouri State during the 2007-08 school year.

Perry will work with Auburn’s horizontal jumpers and multi-event athletes for both the men’s and women’s teams, will assist with recruiting and is responsible for administrative duties including travel coordination, ordering and distributing equipment and coordinating summer track and field camps.

“I’m very excited to have Candace join our staff,” said Spry. “She is a sharp young coach that will bring a lot of energy to the program. She was a very successful collegiate athlete and did a great job in her first season as a coach. She is ready to step up and contribute to our staff immediately.”