It was a historic night for No. 25 Auburn in Gainesville, Florida, on Friday with its sweep of No. 9 Florida. Not only was it the first win for the Tigers over Florida since 2015 — it was the first-ever sweep and road win against the Gators in program history.
The first set ended with a 25-23 Auburn win, which was a similar start to the first time these teams met in Auburn on Sept. 22. Unlike that September meeting, the Tigers were unstoppable for the remainder of the match, taking the next two sets with scores of 25-20 and 25-17, respectively.
The Tigers (13-3, 3-2 SEC) overpowered a notoriously tough Gator team, hitting .387 with 47 kills and collecting five blocks to Florida’s two. Auburn also recorded seven aces on the night, led by seniors Jackie Barrett and Chelsey Harmon, who each had two.
Sophomores Akasha Anderson and Madison Scheer dominated on offense for Auburn.
Anderson collected 18 kills on the night, matching her Sept. 22 total versus the Gators. She also totaled eight digs and only four hitting errors alongside her even .400 hitting percentage, her second-highest slash of the season next to her .410 mark against Samford on Sept. 16.
It was a much-needed turnaround for Anderson compared to her last four matches, where she totaled a .090 hitting percentage while also collecting 38 hitting errors.
Scheer continues to be a producer for the Tigers alongside Anderson. After only collecting four kills in the loss at Arkansas on Sept. 27, Scheer has been key for the Tigers. She totaled 14 kills against the Gators with a .667 mark, committing only two hitting errors.
The Gators (11-3, 3-2 SEC) hit at a .277 mark with only 10 hitting errors, but the Auburn defense held Florida to a season-low 33 kills on the night. This was only the Gators' second loss to a ranked opponent this season, following a Sept. 17 loss to No. 1 Wisconsin in five sets.
Part of the reason for the Gators' subdued hitting performance was Auburn’s sophomore middle blocker Kendal Kemp.
After having to sit out the home match versus the Gators due to injury, Kemp was involved in three of Auburn’s five blocks and totaled four kills on the night.
The bright spot of the match for the Gators was freshman phenom Kennedy Martin. Martin recorded a team-high 12 kills on the night, giving her 225 kills on the season and double-digit kills in every match this season.
Auburn will next travel to South Carolina on Sunday, Oct. 8, to take on the Gamecocks. The match will be aired on ESPNU and first serve will be at 3 p.m. CST.
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Emily Porch is a senior from Sylacauga, Alabama. She joined The Plainsman in fall 2021.
Twitter: @emilycporch
