AUBURN, Ala. - Auburn Volleyball under Brent Crouch continues to make history. For the first time ever, the No. 25 Tigers won a match in Gainesville over No. 9 Florida in sweeping fashion, 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-17).

The opening frame proved to be a hard-fought battle. The two top-25 programs were nearly inseparable throughout the set.

Paige Thibault and Chelsey Harmon each picked up an ace as stout serving propelled Auburn all night long. Offensively, it was the two-headed monster of Madison Scheer and Akasha Anderson that gave the Tigers a chance at the end of set No. 1.

Anderson led the way with seven kills while Scheer followed with four of her own. At set point, Scheer and Kyla Swanson combined for a thunderous block to give the Orange and Blue the lead.

Scheer, the Eureka, Missouri product would finish with 14 kills on an insane .667 hitting percentage.

Auburn serving paved the way in the second set once again. Keeping the Gators off balance all night long, Thibault, Harmon, Bel Zimmerman and Jackie Barrett each dialed up elongated serving runs to keep the Tigers ahead of Florida.

Scheer came away with four more kills as Auburn hit .400, taking a commanding two-set lead.

Sensing blood in the water, the Tigers weren't about to let off the gas in the third set. For the second time in as many matches, Crouch's squad looked even-keeled as their excellent play carried over into the third set.

Fueled by more tough serving, Auburn opened the final stanza on a 6-1 run that saw four straight kills from sophomore Akasha Anderson.

The Virginia native finished her night with a match-high 18 kills on .400 hitting with eight digs.

Auburn led by as many as six and seemed ever-confident to finish a historic victory in enemy territory. Barrett dropped her second ace of the night to give the Tigers set point, allowing the seemingly invincible Madison Scheer to provide the final blow.

A three-set sweep represented Auburn's first win ever in Gainesville and the Tigers' first top-10 victory.

MATCH NOTES

• Auburn's win in Gainesville was the first ever for the program
• The victory over No. 9 Florida was the program's first top-10 win and the first win over a ranked opponent since beating then No. 14 Creighton in the NCAA Tournament last December.
• Auburn hit north of .300 for the eighth time this season and the team's .387 mark is the second-highest this season
• Brent Crouch is 36-0 all-time when his teams hit .300
• The Tigers' 47 kills and 43 assists were a season-high in a three-set match for Auburn
• Auburn's 33 digs tied for the most in a three-set match this year
• Madison Scheer (14 kills) reached double-digits for the 11th time this season
• Scheer's .667 hitting percentage was a career-high
• Akasha Anderson (18 kills) reached double-digits for the 12 time in 2023

CROUCH'S COMMENTS

"A lot of emotions. I am so proud of the team. We felt like we had them last time at home so I wasn't surprised we were able to compete with them early on here. Once we got into that second set, Bel [Zimmerman] went on a really good service run and I thought that was really the story. They had a hard time handling it. "The other thing that I'm even more proud of is how they handled their emotions throughout the match. We were all feeling it because we wanted to win but I thought they contained it well and stayed even throughout the night."

On Madison Scheer and Akasha Anderson...
"Just phenomenal. When your outside hitters are on like this, you're going to win. You're going to win every time. We've been working on hitting mechanics a ton in practice. I'm excited to go back and watch the video to see what tonight looked like."

UP NEXT

It's a tight turnaround as Auburn heads to Columbia, South Carolina for a date with the Gamecocks on Sunday, Oct. 8 at 3 p.m. CT.