No. 13 Florida's road victory against Auburn was an uneven affair.
The Gators downed the Tigers 3-0 (26-24,25-20,25-23) in a tightly contested, mistake-ridden match.
"People who look and see 3-0 will not see how tough of a match that was," said coach Mary Wise.
Florida (10-3, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) was on the ropes from the get-go against Auburn (8-7, 2-3 SEC).
The first set featured nine tied scores and five lead changes, while neither team scored on more than three consecutive volleys through the first 37 points.
Wise called a timeout with the Gators trailing 20-17 and hitting at a .154 percentage as a team.
The break in action helped spur a 7-0 run, propelling Florida to a 24-20 advantage – its first lead since going ahead 7-6.
The Gators then let their guard down, surrendering four consecutive points to the Tigers before a kill from Tangerine Wiggs and a double hit by Auburn sealed a 26-24 win in the first set.
The second set saw Florida improve significantly, hitting .333 compared to a dismal .167 in the opening frame.
The Gators took the second set from the Tigers on the strength of senior outside hitter Stephanie Ferrell's hitting efficiency.
Through the first two sets, Ferrell recorded nine kills in 10 attempts for a .900 hitting percentage, helping increase the squad's overall number to .286.
Also providing clutch play in the second set were seniors Kristy Jaeckel and Cassandra Anderson.
Jaeckel, an outside hitter, recorded three of her team-leading 15 kills to fend off Auburn rallies in the latter half of the set.
Anderson, a middle blocker, came through with a Wiggs-assisted stuff block that put Florida up 22-16 – its largest lead of the match to that point. She also recorded a key kill that extended UF's lead to 23-18.
The third set followed a similar pattern to the first, as the Gators needed to come from behind.
Down 20-18, Jaeckel and Ferrell combined for four kills down the stretch to go along with an ace from Taylor Unroe, helping Florida secure a 25-23 match-winning triumph.
A major reason for the Gators' success was the passing effort by senior Kelly Murphy and sophomore Chanel Brown.
The two combined for 39 assists, improving a facet of Florida's game that Wise thought was lacking in last Sunday's loss to No. 23 Tennessee.
"We need to figure out how to get our setters involved on offense much sooner in the match," Wise said.
