The Auburn volleyball team started SEC play with a tough 3-0 (14-25, 19-25, 19-25) loss to No. 10 Florida Friday night at Auburn Arena.
The Gators (7-3, 1-0 SEC) took the first set with ease, winning 25-14. The Tigers (8-6, 0-1 SEC) could not find their rhythm as they continued to be overpowered at the net.
Fairing statistically with Florida for the most part, Auburn's nine errors to their opponent's one and strong play at the net by the Gators kept the Tigers.
Freshman Courtney Crable led the Tigers with 3 kills, while sophomore Breanna Barksdale, sophomore Stephanie Campbell and freshman Macy Reese each had two a piece at the end of the first set.
"I thought Courtney did a good job of being aggressive, but we were putting her in a tough position to go against that block every time," said head coach Rick Nold.
The second set was not much different for the Tigers.
Florida's sophomore Alex Holston and freshman Rhamat Alhassan dominated the Tigers shot after shot.
Four kills from sophmore Emily Klitzke, and two apiece from Barskdale, Campbell and Reese were not enough to top the Gators' offense going into the locker room.
The Tigers came out after the half like a new team, but could not capitalize on defense to stop the Gators.
Auburn had the lead at the beginning of the concluding set, but after Holston, who had 15 kills in the match, tied it up 11-11 with a kill, Florida ran away with the match.
"We had a blocking plan, and we pretty much the whole game stuck to it," junior Alyssa Ivey said. "Defensively we weren't getting some balls that we should have. I mean they were hitting straight down, but that is something that we knew was going to come."
Crable posted a team-high nine kills along with a pair of service aces for Auburn for the night, while Barksdale collected seven kills and hit a .300 for the Tigers.
Freshman setter Alexa Filley finished with 29 assists and 11 digs for her third straight double-double.
Auburn is set for another SEC matchup on the road this weekend against No. 22 Texas A&M.
Nold and the team will apply their "next ball mentality" to their game Sunday against the Aggies.
"We got to learn from this match, Nold said. "I was disappointed with the way we fought. We did OK in some areas, but I didn't think we fought as hard as we needed to."
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