GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Auburn Volleyball traveled down south this weekend to take on the #22 Florida Gators, the Tigers desperate to snap a six game losing streak. It was not to be, though, as Auburn could not put up a fight and got swept by the Gators.
Auburn kept the first set close at the beginning, trailing by just two as Florida hit the ten-point mark. However, the Gators then caught fire, going on a 15-6 run to win the first set by a commanding 25-14 score.
The second set went similarly, Auburn hanging on early to only trail 14-15 but falling off once again to lose the set 25-18. Then, the Tigers went down 12-4 to start the third set and couldn’t recover despite a strong comeback attempt, dropping the set 25-19 and the match 3-0.
The Florida attack was powered by hitter Kennedy Martin. The sophomore had 20 kills and 8 digs on the night and just one error, good enough for a stellar .559 hit percentage. Martin’s performance set the tone for the Gator attack, which finished the match hitting .427.
On the Auburn side, the numbers couldn’t have looked more different. Outside of Madison Scheer’s .320, no Auburn player recorded a hit percentage over .182. The Tigers hit a paltry .130 on the night, not helped by a rough eight-error night by Laken Laurendine and five further wayward attacks from Bel Zimmerman.
Unfortunately for Auburn, the performance was not something that has been unusual recently. After a solid start to the season that saw the Tigers become ranked after a statement win over Kentucky, Auburn is now on a seven-match losing streak.
Over that streak, the Tigers have won just eight sets and the strong defense that Coach Brent Crouch’s squad prided themselves on to begin the season has all but disappeared. Now just 14-9 after a 13-1 start, Auburn will need some big-time help to make the NCAA Tournament at the end of the season.
The next chance for a bounceback comes on Nov. 15 as the Tigers will host 15th-ranked Texas in Neville Arena. After a near-bulletproof start, the Longhorns have lost multiple games over the last couple of weeks and are looking vulnerable. A win for Auburn would go a long way in re-establishing some momentum for Coach Crouch’s Tigers.
