The volleyball team travels to Gainesville, Fla., this Friday to take on the No. 1 Florida Gators in the second of three matches on the road.
The Tigers, 14-6 overall, lost Friday at Oxford, Miss., falling to Ole Miss in three sets.
"It was a learning experience for the team," said coach Wade Benson. "We had a short turnaround following Wednesday night's emotional win over Georgia, and the team hadn't fully recovered physically and emotionally."
Senior defensive specialist Liz Crouch secured a place in Auburn history with her record 15 digs during the match. The Gators, however, will prove to be a tougher opponent as they look to improve a nearly perfect 14-1 record.
The Gators' loss came early in the season when they fell in four sets (1-3) at home to ninth-ranked Penn State. Mary Wise coaches the Gators, and the team is carried offensively by junior setter and right side Kelly Murphy, who leads the team this season with 173 kills and 298 assists.
"They (Florida) are full of powerful juniors and seniors and are a strong-hitting team," Benson said. "We need to play solid defense at the net and in our passing game, and if we do that, I believe we can stick with them and take a couple of sets from them."
Before Friday's loss, the Tigers won four of five matches at home against SEC opponents.
Benson said he considers that a huge boost to the team, and he hopes the Tigers will carry this winning mentality with them as they continue on the road.
As far as concentrating on what to work on, Crouch said she believes the team is developing well and is on track for a great season, but added that they will need to work on a few key areas.
"I think we need to focus on our side of the court, keying on a few of Florida and South Carolina's strengths," Crouch said, "but our main concern is our team and becoming strong, both mentally and physically."
Sophomore outside hitter Sarah Bullock said the team will most likely focus on serving as well as first ball terminations, things Auburn will need against a big-blocking team like Florida.
Like Crouch, Bullock said she thinks the mental game is important.
"It is crucial to keep up the intensity," Bullock said. "I know for a fact that our practices this week will be highly intense to get us ready for what is to come on the road. Though we lost a tough match on Friday, we won't be thinking of that going into practice this week--we have to erase that out of our minds and look forward to playing Florida at Florida."
This week's match will take place at 3 p.m. Oct. 15 in Gainesville.
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