Auburn Tigers Volleyball team (12-8, 4-5 SEC) fell to No. 9 Florida Gators (14-3, 8-2 SEC) Friday and defeated South Carolina (11-8, 3-7 SEC) 3-1 Sunday.
The Tigers fell to the Gators 3-0 with scores of 19-25, 22-25 and 21-25.
Although the Tigers came short of victory, head coach Wade Benson said he is proud of how the girls played.
"We could have and should have beaten Florida," Benson said. "We're knocking on the door and have definitely gained some respect."
Auburn was led by freshmen outside hitters Sarah Bullock and Katherine Culwell, sophomore Kelly Fidero and junior Morgan Johns.
Bullock earned her third double-double, meaning she earned 10 or more points in two different categories, whether it be digs, assists, kills or aces.
Johns said the team knew Florida would be a challenge to beat.
"We came out thinking they were a solid team and that we needed to play to the level that they were, and we did just that," Johns said.
Culwell said the team gets the scouting reports for each opponent and practices according to the statistics.
The scouting report identifies the go-to hitters and strong players.
Auburn took the lead in each game, but the Gators were quick to catch up and take the lead.
The Tigers returned Sunday to play South Carolina.
"We worked a lot on our defense on Saturday and came out ready," Culwell said.
Culwell said the team practiced Saturday to prepare for the match against South Carolina and to correct errors the team made in the match against Florida.
The extra practice time paid off as Auburn triumphed over South Carolina Sunday, with scores of 28-26, 18-25, 25-13 and 25-17.
"We came out against South Carolina very confident," Johns said. "We played well against Florida and we knew that this was a win we could get."
Culwell, Bullock and sophomore setter Christina Solverson recorded career double-doubles, while junior middle blocker Alyssa Davis finished with nine kills and seven blocks.
Junior libero Liz Crouch finished the match with a record 23 digs.
Her career total for digs is now 1,059, putting her in fourth all-time at Auburn.
Benson said he thought South Carolina was a good match for the Tigers.
"South Carolina is a low-error team and I think we matched them," Benson said. "We certainly are a more physical team, but we matched them volleyball savvy wise which is something that we've been working on so that's a huge step forward for us."
Benson said the team did a good job running down balls and communicating, and the outside hitters did great transitioning against blocks.
Auburn faces in-state rival University of Alabama (6-14, 4-6 SEC) Friday and Mississippi State University (5-16, 1-9 SEC) Sunday. Both matches will be in the Student Activities Center.
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