In front of the largest crowd Auburn volleyball has hosted at Neville Arena this season, the Tigers fell in straight sets to No. 14 Florida (25-23, 25-18, 25-15).
It was a battle for sole possession of first place in the SEC. Both Auburn and Florida came into the game with 7-2 conference records which, along with Kentucky, were tops in the league.
“Florida's a really good team,” said head coach Brent Crouch. “They've got some physicality basically at every position, you know, and I thought that we matched up really well with them, at least from a physical standpoint at probably maybe half the positions, so I think they had a little physical advantage there. We have had the physical advantage on most of the teams we've played so far. So there was a difference there.”
Florida (16-4, 8-2 SEC) came into the game with some extra motivation after being swept by Georgia in its last outing.
“They came out and they were ready to go,” Crouch said. “They just lost to Georgia. That was, I think, a pretty big upset in everyone's eyes, and I knew that they were going to be ready to go. And they were determined today and they were playing with confidence.”
In the first set, it seemed as if the Tigers were ready to go toe-for-toe with a team they had not beaten since 2015. The teams traded points back and forth for practically the entire set. Neither side could muster a lead of larger than two points. The Gators scored the last two points to win the set, 25-23, and the tone was set for the rest of the night.
The second set started much like the first, with the teams trading blows. At one point, the set was even at 12 points each, but Florida found a rhythm, going on a 13-6 run to end the set.
By the third set, Florida’s physicality had taken over. Auburn was able to hang with its opponent early, but the Gators pulled away and won the set 25-15, the worst set of the night for the Tigers. With the win, Florida became the first team this season to sweep Auburn.
Though the Tigers lost, Crouch saw some positives from his team in what was their biggest test to date, mainly from stars Akasha Anderson, Madison Scheer and Kendal Kemp. Anderson led the team with 10 kills, while Scheer had a team-high 30 attacks. Kemp had four blocks.
“Akasha and Madison are easily physical enough left sides to score against anyone in the country," Crouch said. "You don't know that until you actually roll out against a team that's big and physical."
Despite taking a loss on the schedule, Crouch saw effort from his team that pointed to improvements in their game.
“Madison had a swing in the third set where she went clean over the top of the double block and hit it in the court in front of somebody. And that's not against five-nine blockers. Akasha had some big-time swings against them and Kendal was fine against them too in blocking. So those three in particular, it's a huge takeaway, that they're going to be able to score.”
In addition to the three mentioned by Crouch, Jackie Barrett had 26 assists and Sarah Morton had 11 digs.
Losing at home was a new feeling for this year’s team - Auburn had previously been perfect at Neville Arena. Though the Tigers were swept, Crouch noted the atmosphere the season-high 1,654 fans created at their home arena.
“I think (the fans) will stick with us - it didn't go great tonight,” Crouch said. “But the crowds have been building and they see how young everybody is and I think there's some good excitement and it means everything.”
Fans were encouraged to dress in costumes with Halloween coming later in the week and the season-best crowd was another positive aspect that Crouch pointed to as a small victory.
"The freshmen that signed up, they signed up for crowds like this… and they came to build that here. And they're going to. And then it turns out that everybody's here supporting us," Crouch said. "I wish we could have come out a little bit better for them, but we're very grateful.”
Auburn (18-3, 7-3 SEC), now in third place in the conference, will head to Lexington for a pair of weekend games against No. 20 Kentucky, whose 7-2 record currently ranks second in the SEC.
The first game in the weekend series will start on Saturday at 3 p.m. CST from Kentucky’s Memorial Coliseum and will be streamed live on SEC Network+.
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Matthew is a senior from Huntsville, Alabama, majoring in journalism. He started with The Plainsman in fall 2021.
Twitter: @mattwallaceAU
