GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Gators soccer program earned their 200th SEC win in program history with a 1-0 victory over the Auburn Tigers Thursday night. The Gators are the first program in the conference to reach that mark.
Freshman Lena Bailey was the lone scorer on the night, with a goal right before the first half came to a close. Daviana Vaka sent a long free-kick into the box and the ball took a few bounces before Bailey knocked it in from close range.
Florida outshot the Eagles 11-7. Tessa Barton led the Gators with 3 shots.
The Gator back line held strong, forcing eight offside penalties. Goalkeeper Alexa Goldberg made a few diving saves to preserve the shutout. She finished her night with three saves, earning her seventh clean sheet this season.
The Gators will head to Nashville this Sunday, October 22 to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores. The game will kick-off at 2 p.m. and air on SECN+.
Quarterback Graham Mertz (RS-Jr) was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Week after his performance in Columbia that saw him throw for a career high 423 yards. Mertz engineered the game-winning drive that went 75 yards in less than two minutes of game time and put Florida ahead 41-37.
The Wisconsin transfer finished the game 30-48 for 423 yards and three touchdowns.
Placekicker Trey Smack earned SEC Special Teams Co-Player of the Week honors after going 4-5 on field goal attempts against the Gamecocks.
Smack made a career long kick of 54 yards on top of 48- and 44-yards as well. His lone miss was a block by the South Carolina defensive line.
On the season, Smack has made eleven of twelve field goal attempts and all fourteen of his extra points.
Florida enters the bye week at 5-2 overall and 3-1 midway through their conference slate. The Gators will take on rival Georgia, the number 1 ranked team in the nation,
Following South Carolina punter Kai Kroger’s kick of just 28 yards, Florida QB Graham Mertz walked into the huddle calm and poised to win the ballgame. The Gators trailed 37-34 with just 2:43 remaining.
The drive started with three straight incompletions before a critical fourth down conversion where Mertz appeared to just throw it up for his favorite target, Ricky Pearsall. Pearsall made the adjustment and came down with the grab for a 26 yard gain and breathed life back into the offense.
With South Carolina expecting the Gators to throw, head coach Billy Napier drew up a run by Montrell Johnson that gained 11 yards and put Florida in Trey Smack’s field goal range.
But the Gators weren’t looking to tie the game. Mertz was determined to lead his team to the end zone. Three plays later, he did just that with a bullet of a pass to Pearsall in the endzone to put Florida ahead, 41-37.
The game opened at a feverish pace with the two teams combining for twenty-four points in the first quarter of action. The Gators led off with a nine play, 66-yard drive that resulted in a Trevor Etienne touchdown run.
The Gators took a 24-21 lead into the halftime break, but it was still anyone’s game at that point.
The third quarter was relatively uneventful with the defenses seeming to settle in, each team managed just a field goal on the scoreboard, though Carolina entered the fourth period on the UF 3-yard line and managed to score the first play of the final frame to take a 31-27 lead.
USC added to its lead with a 33-yard catch and run by Joshua Simon that increased the lead to ten (due to a blocked PAT), 37-27.
The Gators moved to within a field goal on an Arlis Boardingham touchdown with 4:40 remaining on the clock. Two plays earlier, Napier showed his belief in his offense, going for it on 4th and 1 from the seven yard line despite his team’s need for ten points. Montrell Johnson picked up three yards to set up the score.
For the game, Mertz went 30/48 for 423 yards and three touchdowns with no turnovers. Pearsall finished with 166 yards on ten receptions. Eugene Wilson added 83 yards in the passing game.
The Florida defense had a rough day, however. South Carolina accumulated 465 yards of offense, including 313 in the air. SC QB Spencer Rattler completed 77% of his attempts and tossed just one interception, his last throw, a prayer deep downfield into double coverage.
Florida moves to 5-2 overall and 3-1 in SEC play as they head into the bye week. The Gators will then face rival Georgia in Jacksonville on October 28th.
The Florida Gators Volleyball team left Starkville, Mississippi, with a loss Friday night. The Gators are now 12-4 on the season with a 4-3 SEC record.
The opening frame of the match belonged to the Bulldogs, winning 25-18. UF bounced back in set two as they cruised to a 25-20 victory. However, Mississippi State had an answer that the Gators never adjusted to.
The Bulldogs went on to win a competitive third set 27-25 followed by a match sealing 25-21 victory in the final set.
Florida was led offensively by Kennedy Martin with 18 kills at .333 clip. AC Fitzpatrick posted a solid 17 kills on the night to compliment Martin’s performance. Rounding out the offensive contributions was Sofia Victoria and Nnedi Okammor each tallying nine apiece.
Despite the loss, graduate transfer Kennedy Muff did an impressive job of getting her teammates involved. Muff dished out 48 assists in Friday’s match while adding five kills and four digs to the stat sheet as well.
On the defensive side of the net, Elli McKissock roamed the backcourt for the Gators posting a team-high 16 digs. Her performance moved her into third on the program’s all-time digs list. Martin, Emily Canaan and Trinity Adams recorded 11, 11 and 10 in the loss to Mississippi State.
Fitzpatrick posted a career-high six aces behind the service line.
The Gators will be back in action next Friday as the team travels to College Station, Texas, to battle Texas A&M. First serve is slated for 7:30 p.m. and will be available to watch on SEC+.
The Gators are heading to Columbia, SC for a matchup with the Gamecocks Saturday.
Florida dominated USC a year ago, earning a 38-6 victory. SC QB Spencer Rattler threw for just 145 yards and was sacked three times while the Gators pounded the ball down the field with 374 rushing yards.
The following are our staff’s predictions for Florida vs South Carolina:
Carson Euverard – Billy Napier has made changes this week to the travel schedule and put an emphasis on sleep to better prepare for road games. Williams-Brice Stadium is one of the tougher road tests in the SEC and the Gamecocks will be looking to avenge last year’s blowout in the Swamp.
South Carolina’s defense is ranked 118th nationally and is allowing 443 YPG. Trevor Etienne is healthy and in the lineup this week and he should be able to find holes against a weaker Gamecock defense. Graham Mertz has done everything Napier has asked him to do and shown that he can run the offense. He is second in the country with an 80% completion percentage. Napier hinted in his press conference that they might start throwing the ball down the field more after Steve Spurrier’s comments.
Despite South Carolina’s defensive struggles I think Williams-Brice will be a difficult atmosphere and the Gamecocks win a close one 28-24.
Alyssa Britton-Harr – After Florida’s fourth win at home, the Gators look to take their first victory away against South Carolina. Despite Florida’s 4-2 record vs. South Carolina’s 2-3 record which features losses to both Georgia and Tennessee. The Gators have struggled on the road before, but I believe this game to be different due to the explosive momentum that has been carried on throughout the past couple of games. Florida however, does have an unpromising list of injured players including Trevor Etienne who is listed as questionable for Saturday. Offensively the Gators have struggled, but with Florida’s sparked defense it can be promised they will find success on the field. I believe Florida will take the win, 30-17.
Hugh Green – After a promising showing last week against Vanderbilt in the Swamp, Florida is looking to carry the momentum into Columbia against South Carolina. The Gators have struggled mightily away from home since Billy Napier became the head coach last season. In Napier’s tenure, Florida is just 1-5 in games not played at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. He will have to fire up his team if he doesn’t want to suffer another road loss.
The Gator run game will be the focal point of their offense against the Gamecocks. South Carolina has given up 141.6 rushing yards per game this season while Florida has averaged 153 yards per game on the ground. This is a formula for success for the Gator rushing attack.
If Trevor Etienne, who returns to the lineup after being sidelined with an injury last week, and Montrell Johnson Jr. can be their usual selves in the run game, and the Florida defense can be as affective as it has been so far this year, the Gators should be able to take this one in Columbia. Florida, 24-20.
Regan Roberts – Last year, the Gators ran for 374 yards in their 38-6 beatdown of the Gamecocks in the Swamp. This year, the run game will be essential again for the Gators to pull out the win. The Gamecocks are coming off a bye-week, and a loss against Tennessee the week before. They will be hungry for a win and revenge against the Gators. Last week the offense put up 280 pass yards and 215 rush yards, so if Mertz and the rest of the offense shows up to play, the Gators should have nothing to worry about. Florida, 21-7.
Brian Fox – Alright, if we learned anything last week, it’s that “Vegas Knows,” right? There was no indication leading into last week that the Gators should have been 18-point favorites, yet Florida covered the spread.
UF enters this week as a 2-point underdog, which is about as much as home field advantage is worth in the world of sports betting, making this almost a pick ’em otherwise.
But why is this game a “pick ’em”? On the season, the Gators are the better offensive team and the better defensive team, and it’s really not close.
We are going to learn from last week’s mistake and assume “Vegas Knows.” South Carolina, 21-20.
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Florida and South Carolina kickoff from Williams-Brice Stadium at 3:30 PM. The game will be aired live on SEC Network.
The game was scoreless at the half before the Razorbacks found their way on offense. Sophia Aragon opened the scoring two minutes into the second half. Aragon fought off multiple defenders and goalkeeper Alexa Goldberg to score from close-range.
Arkansas scored again in the 67th minute on a corner kick. Goldberg punched the ball away but it went right to Sabrina Jones who scored on a header.
Ava Tankersley put the game out of reach in the 75th minute with a score from the six yard box. Avery Wren had the assist.
The Razorbacks outshot the Gators 15-6 and had 8 corners to Florida’s two. Megan Hinnenkamp led the Gators with 2 shots.
Goldberg had two saves in the match.
The Gators will be back at home next Thursday, October 19th, against the Auburn Tigers. The game will kick-off at 6 p.m. and streamed on SECN
The Florida Gators women’s basketball program announced the final member of the team’s coaching staff Monday. Former two-time SEC Player of the Year and the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 WNBA Drart, Rhyne Howard, will serve as an assistant coach and director of player personnel.
Welcome to Gainesville, Rhyne!
Excited to announce the newest addition to our Gator family🐊
Howard’s role as the director of player personnel will coincide with the off-season for the WNBA.
Howard just wrapped up her second season as a professional, where she averaged 17.5 points per game for the Atlanta Dream. As a rookie, she earned the league’s Rookie of the Year award.
Howard averaged 20.1 points over four years at Kentucky (2018-22). Among her collegiate accolades:
National Freshman of the Year (2019)
All-SEC First Team (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022)
SEC All Defensive Team (2020)
All-America First Team (2021, 2022)
SEC Player of the Year (2020, 2021)
Howard’s mother, Rhvonja, played for the Gators from 1987-91.
Florida opens the 2023 season November 6 with a contest against North Florida. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 PM.
The Gators Volleyball team defeated SEC opponent Alabama at Exactech Arena Sunday afternoon. The 3-0 sweep improves their record to 4-2 in the conference and 12-3 on the season.
In the first set of the match, Florida held an early 6-4 lead. Kennedy Martin and Anna Dixon provided the spark offensively. The Gators came out with a sense of urgency in the match and looked dominant throughout the opening set.
UF held their momentum to go on a 7-3 run which extended their lead to 13-7. Alabama showed competitiveness as they forced a Florida timeout when they cut their deficit to just one point as they trailed 18-17.
The Gators regrouped after the break and cruised to a 25-22 victory in the first set.
The second set was intense as Florida escaped with a 29-27 win. The two teams were neck-and-neck throughout the entire set and neither team was able to gain a significant advantage. UF was pushed to set-point when the Crimson Tide held a 27-26 advantage.
Florida flipped the script and scored three-straight points as AC Fitzpatrick slammed the door on set two with a service ace.
In the third and final set, the Gators completed the sweep. Fitzpatrick carried the load offensively in the third set tallying numerous kills. Martin added a kill to the stat sheet which contributed to the Gators pulling away with a 20-12. The Gators held control the rest of the set to win 25-19 to secure the sweep.
Fitzpatrick led the Gators on offense with 14 kills as Martin pitched in 11 in the victory. Defensivley, Elli McKissock held down the backcourt for UF recording 17 digs. A trio of Gators tallied a combined total of 10 blocks at the net. Sofia Victoria and Gabrielle Essix posted four blocks and Nnedi Okammor tallied three of her own.
The Gators will be back in action on Friday as they travel to Mississippi State for their next match. First serve is slated for 7 p.m.
The Gators are looking to rebound from an embarrassing effort in Lexington last week. Florida welcomes in Vanderbilt, just in time for Homecoming.
The following are our staff’s predictions for Florida vs Vanderbilt:
Carson Euverard – Depending which Gator team shows up this weekend will determine the outcome. The Gators came out flat against Kentucky and if that team shows up, they could be looking at back-to-back losses to Vanderbilt.
Billy Napier will need to start opening up the playbook with downfield passes and play-action so the rushing attack can get back on track.
There is a talent gap between the Gators and the Commodores, and UF should be able to control the line of scrimmage. Gators win, 35-21.
Alyssa Britton-Harr – Florida will look to take its fourth win at home against Vanderbilt Saturday. The Gators are favored by 18.5 points, and look to take revenge after their 31-24 loss last season in Nashville. Graham Mertz ranked fifth in the SEC in passing efficiency needs to move the ball quickly, otherwise the game could quickly end up like the Kentucky game. Although running back Trevor Etienne is questionable to play Saturday, the Gators have a solid defense that is dominant. I believe Florida will pull off a win, 30-10.
Hugh Green – After a letdown game last week against Kentucky, Florida will come into this game hungry for a victory on Homecoming. They are going up against a Vanderbilt team that has lost its last four straight games. The Gators will be back at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, in which they are 3-0 so far this season.
Florida should dominate on the offensive side of the ball against a Commodore defense that has allowed an average of over 37 points per game on their four-game losing streak. It will be interesting to see if the Gators can get the ground game going like they did against Tennessee three weeks ago.
If the Gators have success running the football and can play defense like they have shown so far in 2023, I see them easily handling Vanderbilt at home. Florida, 31-14.
Brian Fox – At the time of writing this, the Gators are a 18.5-point favorite. How anyone could bet on Florida to cover those kind of odds after the last two showings is utterly unjustifiable.
Is Florida the more talented team, absolutely yes. Does Florida have the revenge factor on their side, definitely yes. But 18.5 points? Lets be honest here, if Vandy focuses on stopping the Gators’ run game, can UF even put up 21+ points?
For the sake of the program, I believe Florida wins this game, but that spread makes it very hard to not bet the other side. Gators, 30-24.
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Florida and Vanderbilt will kick off from Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at 4:00 PM Saturday.
The Florida Gators resumed SEC regular season play Friday night. The team hosted the Auburn Tigers at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville, Florida. The Gators were outperformed on their home court and took their third loss of the season as they were swept by SEC foe Auburn.
In the opening set of the match. The Gators wasted no time getting the offense cooking. Kennedy Martin and AC Fitzpatrick led the as they both recorded kills early in set one. Kennedy Muff had a well-executed tip over the net that gave UF a 7-5 lead.
The Gators were able to hold their momentum until Auburn tied things at 14 apiece. Florida gained a one-point advantage after the following point to lead 15-14 heading to a media timeout.
The first set remained intense and competitive as the teams virtually traded point-for point. Anna Dixon posted her first kill of the match combined with a pair of attack errors from Auburn to give the Gators a 19-18 edge.
The Tigers would bounce back to knot the score at 20-20 after a kill by Kendal Kemp. Auburn took control after the score was even to go on a 5-3 run to win set one 25-23.
Auburn carried their momentum into the second set as they gained a 6-2 advantage early on. The Tigers continued to apply the pressure as they extended their lead to 10-5.
The Tigers offense in set two was a versatile attack that included kills from Madison Scheer, Akasha Anderson and Kemp. Florida head coach Mary Wise was forced to call a timeout as she began to see the set slip away as her team trailed 19-14. Back-to-back kills by Anderson and Scheer slammed the door on Florida as AU was able to cruise to a 25-20 victory in the second set.
The Gators were facing a sweep after falling behind 2-0 in the match. UF needed to flip the switch. However, they did anything but that to start the third set. The Gators once again found themselves with an early 9-4 deficit.
Sofia Victoria carried the load offensively for the Gators in the third set. She tallied three kills in five points to shrink the Auburn lead to 12-10. The Tigers would not let the score get any closer than that after a kill by Bel Zimmerman put them back ahead 19-14.
Florida was not able to put together a comeback as Auburn completed the sweep 3-0.
Florida was led offensively by Martin with 12 kills and Victoria with 8. Kennedy Muff dished out a team-high 28 assists.
Defensively, Elli McKissock led the Gators in the backcourt with 10 kills and Nnedi Okammor tallied two blocks.
Florida will have a quick turnaround as they prepare to host Alabama on Sunday afternoon. First serve will be at 1 p.m. from Exactech arena in Gainesville, Florida.
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