AUBURN, Ala. – Head coach Brent Crouch and the No. 24 Auburn Tigers gave all No. 3 Florida could handle for five grueling sets. It was the Gators, however, who outlasted the Orange and Blue 3-2 (20-25, 26-24, 24-26, 25-19, 17-15).
Jackie Barrett and the Auburn offense went right to work in the opening frame. Barrett set up Akasha Anderson for four kills while Madison Scheer and Bella Bell each put down three apiece.
Steady serving from Sarah Morton, Paige Thibault, Zoe Slaughter and Bel Zimmerman put Florida out of system, making it difficult for their outsides to get any sort of rhythm. The Auburn defense held the Gators to just .118 hitting in the opening frame as the Tigers took the one-set lead.
Back and forth the two programs went in set No. 2. Like two heavyweight fighters, they each traded blows in front of a raucous crowd inside Neville Arena. The 2,393 fans in attendance marked the third-largest crowd in program history.
Auburn led by as many as five late in the frame thanks to the dynamic duo of Anderson and Bell, who each claimed four kills in the set.
Anderson finished the evening with a game-high 18 kills and 10 digs for her third double-double of the season. Barrett would also claim her team-leading sixth double-double with 40 assists and 10 digs.
A late, 7-1, run from the away side, though, tied up the match heading into the third set.
Tied 3-3 in the third, Anderson delivered her second of two aces on the night to give her team the early advantage. Auburn would never look back.
While Sarah Morton, Paige Thibault and the back row continued to make plays, it allowed the likes of Madison Scheer to make plays up front. When the dust settled, four different Tigers reached double-digits in digs totals. Morton led the way with 13, Slaughter grabbed 11, and Barrett and Anderson each secured 10.
Scheer, however, was virtually unstoppable in the third. Hi ball, out of system ball, it didn't matter, Scheer was putting it down. Seven kills on 17 swings with no errors gave her a .412 hitting percentage, highlighted a 15-kill night, and gave Auburn a chance to take the lead. One they would not throw away.
While the Tigers only had five total blocks on the night, Anderson and Chelsey Harmon combined for loudest, sending the match to set four with Auburn in the lead.
Offense was the name of the game for Florida in the fourth. Even though the Tigers managed to keep its service errors to a minimum, the Gators enjoyed .278 hitting compared to just .069 on the other side of the net. After 25-19, the match hurdled toward a decisive fifth set.
Florida jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead in the final frame but stellar serving from Slaughter allowed the Tigers to claw back. Much like the first three stanzas, Auburn and Florida were nearly inseparable.
Anderson swung for five kills while Scheer finished with three.
As the set drifted into extra points, however, it was Florida who found the right buttons to push to claim the instant classic three sets to two.
MATCH NOTES
- Auburn's 59 total digs were the third-most this season
- Madison Scheer (15 kills) reached double digits for the seventh time this season
- Sarah Morton (13 digs) reached double digits for the sixth time in 2023
- Akasha Anderson (18 kills, 10 digs) grabbed her third double-double of the year and has reached double digits in kills in all nine of the matches she's played in this year
- Bella Bell (11 kills) reached double digits for the fifth time this season
- Zoe Slaughter (11 digs) reached double digits for the fifth time this season
- Jackie Barrett (40 assists, 10 digs) notched her team-leading sixth double-double of the year
NEXT UP
Auburn will stay on the Plains to host Ole Miss on Sunday, Sept. 24 at 2 p.m. CT. Admission is free and doors open one hour before.