Nov. 23, 2016
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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The Auburn volleyball team pushed the No. 9 Florida Gators all night, but came up short in a tough 3-1 (25-21, 22-25, 25-19, 25-14) loss Wednesday night at the Lemerand Center Gymnasium.
The loss moved Auburn to 15-15 overall and 9-8 in Southeastern Conference play.
Senior Breanna Barksdale put together the best performance of her career, recording her first-ever double-double. The San Diego product set a career high with 11 blocks and tied a season best with 13 kills to lead the Tigers.
Junior Macy Reece chipped in 10 kills, while Brenna McIlroy had nine and Gwyn Jones had eight. Junior setter Alexa Filley finished with 42 assists in the match and junior libero Jesse Earl led the team with 19 digs. Freshman Enija Bidzane added seven kills for Auburn.
A trio of Gators (25-3, 15-2) had double-digit kills with Alex Holston's 13 leading the way. Rhamat Alhassan finished with 11 kills and 10 blocks and Carli Snyder had 10 kills and 11 digs. Libero Caroline Knop had a match-high 25 digs for Florida.
Florida jumped ahead 5-2 in the first, but a pair of kills from Bidzane and two more from Filley put the Tigers up 6-5. A Jones kill and a McIlroy/Barksdale block gave Auburn a two-point advantage at 10-8 and another kill for McIlroy made it 12-10. The Gators responded with a run to go ahead at 14-12 and then pushed to an 18-15 lead. The home squad went on to take the set, 25-21.
Great serving from Earl and tough Auburn defense put the Tigers ahead at 5-1 and a kill for McIlroy pushed Auburn to a 10-5 advantage in set two. A tough blocking presence by Barksdale guided the Tigers to a 14-7 lead and a kill by the senior made it 17-11 Auburn. Florida errors lifted the Tigers to a 23-14 lead and another McIlroy kill gave Auburn set point, 24-16. The Gators battled and held off Auburn with a 6-0 run, but Filley sealed the set with a kill, 25-22.
The third stanza had the Gators take an early 4-2 lead before a kill from Bidzane and a Gator error tied the set at 4-all. The teams exchanged points and a kill from Bidzane kept it locked, 12-12. Florida pushed a rally and sent the teams to the media timeout with a 15-12 lead. The home team held its advantage throughout the rest of the set and won the third, 25-19.
The Gators came out in set four firing and used a five-point run to go ahead 8-3. Florida used another lengthy run to go up 15-6 and the Gators took the match with a 25-14 win.
The Tigers close out 2016 at home Saturday, Nov. 26, with a 12:30 p.m. CT match vs. Texas A&M. Auburn and the Aggies will face off in Auburn Arena and the Tigers will honor its seniors prior to the match.