Nov. 21, 2012
AUBURN - The Auburn volleyball team gave 15th-ranked Florida all it could handle through two sets, but ran into trouble after intermission in dropping a 3-1 (23-25, 25-23, 9-25, 20-25) decision to the Gators on Wednesday night at the Student Activities Center.
The Tigers (17-12, 8-11 SEC) dropped their fourth straight match with one contest remaining in the 2012 season. Florida (23-4, 18-1 SEC), which has already clinched the SEC title, will play their season finale Friday at Georgia.
"I'm very disappointed with the effort we gave," Auburn head coach Rick Nold said. "Games one and two, we're sitting in a good position with both teams not really playing well, and we were able to make a run at the end of game two to put ourselves in a position to get back in the match. But from that point on, we let them control us, and that's a disappointing thing to see."
Florida held Auburn to a .113 hitting percentage (49 kills, 32 errors, 151 attempts) while the Gators hit .250. Florida had more kills (54-49), blocks (11-7) and service aces (6-2), but the Tigers were scrappy on defense and won the digs battle 68-63.
Junior setter Chelsea Wintzinger led the Tiger defense with 17 digs, one shy of her career-high set last Friday at Tennessee. She also had a team-best 22 assists to pick up her 14th double-double of the year. Senior Sarah Bullock earned her team-leading 15th double-double of the year with 15 kills and 13 digs along with three assists and a block.
Camila Jersonsky posted 10 kills and eight digs along with one block, and Chloe Rowand and Katherine Culwell had seven kills apiece. Courtney McDonald led the play at the net with four blocks on the night.
For Florida, freshman Ziva Recek led all hitters with 17 kills along with 13 digs. Chloe Mann registered 14 kills and a match-high eight blocks.
The Tigers will close out the 2012 season at 3 p.m. Friday with a match against the Kentucky Wildcats. Auburn's four seniors - Sarah Bullock, MacKenzy Harper, Chloe Rowand and Brittney Rhude - will be honored in pre-match ceremonies. Admission is free to all home Auburn volleyball matches.