No. 3 ranked Florida looks to face off against No. 2 Pittsburgh in the Regional Semifinal Thursday afternoon, the two teams have a short record of competing against each other and this will be the first time the two teams have faced each other in the NCAA tournament. The two teams have competed against each other only three times before, Pittsburgh leads the series 2-1. Both teams sit fairly well in their conferences with Florida being 25-5 and 15-3 in SEC play and Pittsburgh is 29-3 and 17-1 in ACC play.
In Florida’s previous matchup with Iowa St. their defense allowed them to finish the matchup sweeping the cyclones. The defense was led by the Junior libero, Elli McKissok, who ended the night with an impressive 17 digs and 3 services aces. Minus an early setting error the Gators went on an early 6-1 run bringing the early score 8-3, the Gators would then go on another 6-1 run bringing the score to 15-7. The closest the Cyclones got the score to was within 5, the Gators took care of business in the first set 25-19. The Gators played a very clean first set, only having three errors. The second set however was much closer as the Gators won 25-23. The third set led to a very dominant performance by the Gators, resulting in the final score being 25-14.
This matchup will be determined by how resilient the Gator’s defense can be. Pittsburgh is coming off a close but dominant sweep of BYU in the second round of play. Each set brought in at least 18 kills, and finishing off the third set with 20. This is where both teams find each other in the same boat, both are aggressive at the net and having hitting percentages in round two ranging from .2 all the way up to .39. Both teams tend to have at least 30 total hitting attempts. The biggest threats the Gators will have to face on Pittsburgh’s defense is Rachel Fairbanks and Valeria Vazquez Gomez. Together the two raked in 27 digs against BYU. Both players are double threat players on Pittsburgh’s roster. Gomez raked in 9 kills and Fairbanks raked in 10 kills. Offensively, the Gators will need to effectively keep Courtney Buzzerio from getting hot at the net as she raked in 23 kills against BYU.
So, what will it take for the Gators to be successful is this matchup? Their defense is going to need to be aggressive and their blockers are going to need to do their best at shutting down Buzzerio from getting hot. This will take players like McKissok to have another hot performance on defense along with be effective at the service line. But the key to a successful game for the Gators is keeping their errors to a minimum like they did against the Cyclones.
Florida and Pitt will face off Thursday at 3:30 PM with coverage airing live on ESPNU.
Florida head coach Billy Napier is in the home stretch of recruiting for the 2023 cycle, but that doesn’t mean he can’t look ahead to the 2024 class. The 2024 class is off to a fast start as 5-star quarterback DJ Lagway announced his commitment Wednesday afternoon.
Lagway is a 6’2, 215 lb prospect from Willis, Texas. He completed 67% of his passes for 2,081 yards and 24 touchdowns while only throwing five interceptions. Additionally, Lagway ran for seven scores and more than 500 yards while maintaining a 10+ yard per carry average.
Since October, Lagway has visited a number of blue-blood programs including Oklahoma, Clemson, and Southern Cal in addition to a October 15 trip to Gainesville.
Lagway presently holds 33 offers from most of the nation’s elite programs including Alabama, Georgia, and Texas A&M in addition to the schools he’s visited recently. Offensive analyst of quarterbacks Ryan O’Hara led the charge in the recruitment of the Lone Star State prospect, landing his second top prospect at the position (Jaden Rashada, 2023 class).
Lagway is the nation’s No. 24 overall prospect and the No. 4 QB in the 2024 class per the 247Sports composite rankings.
Lagway becomes the third member of the Gators’ 2023 class, joining 4-star LB Myles Graham and 4-star RB Chauncey Bowens.
Florida will face 9-3 Oregon State from the PAC-12. The two programs have never played before. This will be the second PAC-12 team the Gators have played in 2022 (win over Utah in the season opener).
This year’s contest marks the 48th bowl appearance in UF’s program history (24-23 record) and is also the thirtieth Las Vegas Bowl.
The Beavers finished the regular season at 6-3 in conference play, defeating rival Oregon 38-34 in the finale last week.
In what looks to be Florida’s last home match of the season, the Gators swept the No. 6 seed Cyclones in three hard-fought sets.
The No. 3 seed Florida Gators took on the No. 6 seed Iowa State Cyclones Saturday in the second round of the National Collegiate Athletic Association volleyball tournament. The Gators swept the Cyclones (25-19, 25-23, 25-14) highlighted by a dominant defensive effort.
“Our defense is so special and so unique,” said Florida sophomore hitter Merritt Beason. “Lots of credit to Iowa State because they run a very different offense than we’re used to seeing.”
UF junior libero Elli McKissock, who ended with 17 digs and 3 service aces, was waiting to start the match with her serve, and the Gators’ and Cyclones’ fans went back and forth in the stands. Iowa fans alternated chanting, “Iowa,” and, “Power,” while the Gators repeated, “Let’s go Gators.”
McKissock hit the first ball into play, and the second round of the NCAA volleyball tournament was underway. On her attack, Iowa State freshman Maya Duckworth hit the ball wide, and Florida earned the first point.
The Florida libero followed the point with a service ace, and the Gators had a 2-0 lead. However, Iowa State evened the set after a kill and a bad set by Florida freshman setter Alexis Stucky.
A 6-1 run by the Gators regained the lead for the home team and helped it to a 8-3 lead. Iowa State responded, scoring three points on four serves, but another 6-1 run by Florida propelled it to a 15-7 lead. Iowa State called its second timeout of the set, and the Gators held all the momentum.
Every time the Cyclones inched closer to the Gators, the latter would pull away. After being down by eight, Iowa State came within five points twice, but never closed the gap. Florida won the first set, 25-19, due to a kill by Stucky.
Iowa State had more kills than Florida — 14 compared to 13 — but the Gators only had three errors. Florida played a cleaner set than the Cyclones, who had seven errors, and took the first set by six points.
Iowa State came into the second set like the first set never even happened. It scored the first three points. After a kill by Florida sophomore middle blocker Bre Kelley, the Cyclones tallied back-to-back kills to take a 5-1 lead and force an early Florida timeout.
The No. 6 away team earned the first point after the timeout, but a three-point run by the Gators brought them within two. The teams engaged in a back-and-forth battle; Florida tried to narrow the gap and tie the set, while Iowa State attempted to hold onto the advantage.
Beason and sophomore middle blocker Gabrielle Essix finally brought the team within one at 10-9, blocking Iowa State’s shot. On the next play, the Gators almost pulled off one of the most impressive rallies of the season.
After touching a Gator, the ball went flying toward the bleachers. Freshman Emily Canaan sent the ball straight up, and Stucky came flying in, smacking the ball with her first and sending it over the net. A few hits later, junior Sofia Victoria attacked the ball, but she hit it too far and Iowa State was awarded the point after the review. The Cyclones led, 11-9, when Florida nearly tied the set.
The teams continued fighting, and the Gators wouldn’t go away. After a few serves the Gators scored three in a row, capped off by a block by Essiz and Victoria.
Florida trailed by one, 18-17, and Iowa State called a timeout. Head coach Mary Wise shot toward the court, pumping her fist, and high-fiving Essix. Florida trailed for much of the match but was playing with contagious energy.
The Gators tied the set at 19 when McKissock hit her second service ace of the match. Iowa State scored again to break the tie, but a high-flying kill by Beason and a powerful strike by Victoria put the Gators on top for the first time in the set.
Back-to-back Cyclone points elevated Iowa State back on top and the teams were in a back-and-forth shootout. A nifty kill by Stucky, back-to-back blocks by Kelley and a powerful kill by senior hitter Marina Markova gave the Gators a 25-23 second-set victory. Florida led two sets to none.
UF came out in the third set looking like its adrenaline was still pumping from the previous set. Beason’s attack was stuffe at the net on the first serve, but she countered with a kill and service ace to take a 2-1 lead.
She committed a service error on the next play, but McKissock dove for the ball, digging it up and dropping it on the other side of the net.
“Our block was setting up really good looks for me just to be able to see the hitters, McKissock said.
Sophomore Trinity Adams served back-to-back aces, and Florida was firing on all cylinders.
The teams split the next six points, but a three-point Florida run gave the Gators an 11-5 lead and forced a Cyclone timeout. Iowa State got a kill, but Florida scored three in a row, forcing a timeout and moving its lead to 14-6.
The Gators kept rolling and got out to an 11-point, 17-6 lead after scoring six in a row. Then, the Cyclones got some momentum. They won four of five serves and trailed 18-10.
Florida called a timeout and scored first after the stoppage, but Iowa State scored three in a row and trailed by six, 19-13. However, the Gators won six of the last seven serves and completed the sweep with a 25-14 victory in the third set.
The Gators’ offense looked good, but the defense was the highlight. Three Florida players finished with double digit digs; McKissock had 17, Beason had 13 and Canaan had 10.
The Florida block got in Iowa State’s way throughout the entire match. It came up with 9 blocks — led by Essix’s 6 — and helped the back line come up with 64 digs.
“The defense that we run here is very unique,” Wise said.”To a player, they will tell you that they worked really hard on that part of the game.”
Florida will now turn its sights to No. 2 Pittsburgh. It will take on the Panthers Dec. 8 in Wisconsin.
Florida Gators volleyball got better as the match went on, beating the Florida A&M Rattlers in three sets (25-15, 25-15, 25-9) Friday. The team’s final set culminated in a performance the Gators were hoping for.
The third set is truly who we are,” sophomore hitter Merritt Beason said. “We just wanted to play Florida volleyball.”
Sophomore middle blocker Gabrielle Essix, who ended with a team-leading 8 kills, got the action started for Florida. She scored the first point of the match with an attack that FAMU couldn’t get over the net.
With the Rattlers only managing one point in the first six serves, the Gators found themselves with an early 5-1 lead. However, Florida A&M wasted no time erasing its deficit.
It went on a tear, giving up only two points, compared to its six. In no time the first set was tied at seven. Florida’s countermove: a run of its own.
A 5-1 stretch in favor of the Gators gave them a 4-point, 12-8 lead. While the Rattlers fought hard, Florida’s advantage grew to six points at 18-12. UF won seven of the last ten serves to win the first set, 25-15.
The second set came underway, and the advantage flip-flopped between the teams. The Rattlers scored first. Then, the teams alternated two-point runs until the Gators took a 4-3 lead.
FAMU tied the set at four, but a five-point run for Florida gave the higher ranked team a 9-4 lead in the second set. The Gators continued surging, and with a 12-6 lead, Beason’s serve hit the net and dropped on the other side to give her a service ace. Everything was going Florida’s way.
Florida A&M was struggling to close the gap, as the Gators held onto their seven-point lead. However, the Rattlers eventually scored three in a row, and head coach Mary Wise called a timeout to slow the momentum.
Florida came out of the stoppage like the reset button had been pressed. It won six of the last seven serves and won the second set, 25-15, to take a 2-0 match lead.
The Gators were on fire, and their 25 kills nearly doubled the Rattlers’ 13. The third set began, and it was more of the same.
Essix put Florida on the board first, but FAMU senior defensive specialist Brooke Hudson tied it with a kill. This was the closest the Rattlers would get to winning the set.
Florida A&M mustered a couple points early, but Florida separated itself from the competition quickly. The Gators were up 5-3, and a dominant nine-point run gave them a 14-3 advantage.
The Rattlers won two of three serves to come within 10, but UF answered with another run, this time five points. Florida found itself up, 20-5.
FAMU scored a few more points but failed to reach double digits in the final round. The Gators completed the sweep, winning the final set 25-9.
Florida allowed only 21 kills and forced 17 attack errors. Wise credited her personnel and the team’s with creating a defensive wall.
“Going into the match, we felt like we had a size advantage,” Wise said. “As long as we could control the first contact, we could use that to our advantage.”
The Gators had 10 service aces, 34 assists —33 of them being from freshman setter Alexis Stucky — 39 kills and only nine errors. The offense was clicking, and the team looked dominant from start to finish.
Florida’s next game comes against Iowa State, which won a five-set thriller against Florida Gulf Coast less than an hour before the Gators took the court. The Gators’ game against the Cyclones takes place at 7 p.m. Saturday in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
Florida redshirt freshman QB Jalen Kitna has been booked into the Alachua County Jail. The charges have not been released at the time of publication.
Kitna is a 6’4, 208 lb quarterback who played high school football in Burleson, TX. He played in four games this year and finished the regular season 10-14 for 181 yards and a touchdown.
UPDATE (4:20 PM): Florida QB Jalen Kitna appears to be charged with a total of ten second defeee felony charges, all relating to child pornography.
The charges:
In a statement, the Gainesville Police Department says that Kitna distributed two images through a Discord server. GPD began the investigation upon receiving a cyber tip.
According to the statement, Kitna believed sharing the images was legal since he found them online.
As part of their investigation, GPD seized Kitna’s electronics and found three more images, resulting in five charges. Those charges: two counts of distribution of child exploitation materials and three counts of possession of child pornography.
UPDATE: The UAA has released a statement:
“We are shocked and saddened to hear of the news involving Jalen Kitna. These are extremely serious charges and the University of Florida and the UAA have zero tolerance for such behavior. Jalen has been suspended indefinitely from the football program.”
This story will continue to be updated as more information is available.
The Florida Gators’ volleyball team was acknowledged as a top program in the Southeastern Conference and country Sunday. Multiple players received SEC honors, and the team was placed in the National Collegiate Athletics Association tournament.
Florida’s season came to a close Nov. 27 when it defeated Ole Miss in a five-set thriller. The No. 12 Gators beat the Rebels, 3-2, to earn themselves the title of Co-Champion of the conference.
With a 23-5 record, Florida was given the tie-break to get an automatic bid into the tournament.
In the NCAA’s seeding, the Gators earned the No. 3 spot of the top right region and have the privilege of hosting the first two rounds of the tournament.
Their first match of the tournament will come against Florida A&M Friday. With a win, Florida would move on to play the winner of Florida Gulf Coast vs. No. 6 Iowa State. Both matches would take place in Gainesville.
If Florida advances far enough in the tournament, Wisconsin is the No. 1 seed in its region of the bracket. The last time the teams met, the Badgers set the NCAA regular season volleyball attendance record, but the Gators pulled off the upset.
Freshman Alexis Stucky tied her season high with 45 assists in the game, as Florida won in foreign territory, The then-promising freshman developed into one of the best players in the SEC.
Her most recent accomplishment came when she earned a spot on the All-SEC Team and SEC All-Freshman Team and was named SEC Freshman of the Year.
Stucky had an impressive season. Her 1,083 assists made her the second Gator to pass the mark in their first collegiate year. She was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association National Division I Player of the Week, SEC Player of the Week twice, SEC Setter of the Week twice and SEC Freshman of the Week five times.
Now, her first regular season ends with her earning the title of SEC Freshman of the Year.
Senior Marina Markova and sophomore Merritt Beason joined Stucky on the All-SEC team. The players combined to form a dangerous duo of outside hitters.
Stucky, Beason and Markova will lead the Gators when they take the court against the Rattlers Friday at 7 p.m.
The Florida Gators opened the St. Pete Showcase with a dominant defensive effort en route a 61-52 win over Green Bay Thursday afternoon.
The Gators improved to 5-1 on the season with the win and will face Houston to conclude the Showcase Saturday at noon.
The Gators actually scored the first four points of the game before going on a seven plus minute scoring drought. By the end of the first period, Florida trailed 11-7 due to shooting just 2-16 in the quarter.
The Phoenix led by as many as twelve points in the second quarter, 29-17 with 3:44 to play, but the Gators took a 9-0 run into the break to close the gap to three at 29-26.
Following halftime, Jordyn Merritt scored the first three points to tie the game up, though Green Bay continued to turn defense into offense and led by as many as six in the third (5:50). By the end of the quarter, the Gators had gotten to within three at 44-41.
Merritt opened the final frame with a three to tie the score once again. For a few minutes the game played back and forth until Florida seized control with a Faith Dut jumper with 6:31 to play. Green Bay evened the score with 4:45 left, but the Gators closed on a 9-0 run for the win.
Leilani Correa led Florida with 20 points and added four rebounds to the ledger. Merritt finished with 17 points and seven boards while Nina Rickards (11) and Dut (10) each reached double digits.
Both teams struggled offensively as Florida connected on just 31% of their shot attempts. Green Bay shot at a 36% clip.
The Florida defense kept them in the game. The Gators forced 22 turnovers and scored 18 points off those change of possessions.
Florida and Houston will be aired live on FloHoops Saturday.
Photo via Alyssa-Carolina Arana’s Instagram | @alyssa.carolinaa
Kicking off the early signing period with a bang, Florida Gymnastics signed or received official commitments from nearly all of their expected athletes for the 2023-2024 season, including freshly-crowned world champion Skye Blakely.
The Gators offered scholarships to Blakely, Gabrielle Disidore, Skylar Draser, and Anya Pilgrim and received walk-on commitments from Alyssa-Carolina Arana and Kaylee Bluffstone on the opening day of the early signing period. Blakely will defer until the 2024-2025 season, as she will be vying for a berth on the 2024 Olympic team in Paris.
With the enormous class about to graduate, the Gators will need strong contributions from all of these athletes to stay at the top of the pack, especially as parity in the SEC and the NCAA increases. Here’s a look at the careers of these future Gators so far and how they might be valuable to their new team.
Skye Blakely
Easily the headliner of this class, Blakely is a four-year veteran of the U.S. national team with several significant international assignments to her name. The latest of these, and most significant, was her contribution to the team gold medal the U.S. won at the 2022 World Championships in Liverpool just a few weeks ago. She competed bars, beam, and floor in qualifying and just beam in finals, and she also qualified to the beam apparatus final, where she placed fifth.
Obviously, beam is her strong suit, so she’ll be expected to deliver some show-stopping routines for the Gators on the event. Her difficulty is some of the best in the world – she was one of only three women to be credited with a 6.0 or higher difficulty score on beam at World Championships – and her execution is fantastic. Her only question mark in elite has been ‘can she stay on?’, but with her wide skill vocabulary, she and head coach Jenny Rowland should be able to construct a much more consistent routine that’s still difficult and unique while minimizing her fall risk. Check out her incredibly difficult standing tuck full and unique front acrobatic series here in her podium training routine at World Championships.
On the other events, she’s certainly a threat for the bars and floor lineups, so don’t be surprised to see back-to-back Blakelys in the middle of the floor lineup, as Skye will be a freshman when her sister Sloane, currently a sophomore, will be a senior. Her vault will be in question until it’s more clear what vault she will do in college, but her form is certainly clean enough to make the lineup. It’s possible she could be in the top six with just a clean Yurchenko full, a la Megan Skaggs the last two seasons, but we’ll have to see what the 10.0 start value picture looks like come 2025.
Gabriella Disidore
One of the more under-the-radar commits from this class, Disidore hails from GAGE, the same gym as current Gator sophomore Leanne Wong. Bars is her strongest event, where she placed second at Development Program National Championships (formerly J.O. National Championships) last year. She’s trained difficult transitions, including a pak salto directly to a van Leeuwen, and some elite release skills, like a Nabieva – the first skill in the video below. These top-level skills and the strong background in basics that GAGE teaches will be a great foundation for bars coach Owen Field to build a dynamic bar routine on.
Bars may not be the only lineup she’ll contend for either. She’s trained several E tumbling passes on floor, including a double layout and a double double. She also competed a double arabian in the floor routine that led her to the AA title at 2018 J.O. National Championships when she was still a junior. Florida is known for its top tumbling, so if Disidore can get one of those options consistent, she’d significantly increase her chances at making the top six.
Skylar Draser
If you follow elite gymnastics, you might know this name – Skylar Draser has competed elite for the last several years in hopes of making the U.S. national team. At the 2021 GK U.S. Classic, she showed a clean full-twisting Yurchenko vault and a strong beam set that showed a lot of fight. With a little work on her presentation and dance elements, this routine could be NCAA ready!
She also completed a first-place sweep at the Parkettes elite qualifier this summer, which qualified her to compete elite for another U.S. Classic, but she suffered a minor injury in early July. This took her out of selection for Pan American Championships and the rest of the elite season, but taking the time to heal should mean that she’s fully ready for her first season with the Gators.
Anya Pilgrim
If this next athlete’s style is familiar to Gator fans, it’s because she comes from a gym with a history with the orange and blue. Anya Pilgrim hails from Hill’s Gymnastics, who produced Gator greats Erinn Dooley, Corey Hartung, and Kytra Hunter, as well as incoming freshman and world champion Kayla DiCello. She’s a former national team member and competed elite for several years, but she’s stepped back to compete Level 10 this year before coming to Florida next fall.
Like her teammates before her, Pilgrim is a strong leg-event athlete – she won vault and took silver on floor at this year’s Development Program National Championships. Her floor in the video below, set to the score from Black Panther, features two passes stuck cold, including her opening double arabian. That pass would fit right in in Florida’s lineup!
In addition to vault and floor, bars could also be a possibility for her. Her long lines and strong swing make her execution lovely to watch, so if Field can help her put together an up-to-the-level dismount combination, she could be a threat for that lineup as well.
Alyssa-Carolina Arana
One of Florida’s two walk-ons for this class, Arana hails from Miami, so she’ll likely have a big cheering section in the O-Dome every week. She’s not the flashiest member of this class as far as accolades or competition level, but she did earn bronze on beam at Development Program National Championships this year. With her fluidity and confidence on the apparatus, visible in the video below, she might remind Gator fans of super senior Leah Clapper: an integral part of the Gators lineup the last four years and a routine that’ll need replacing come the 2024 season.
Kaylee Bluffstone
Rounding out the recruiting class is Bluffstone, another state local, this time from Tampa. She qualified to her first Development Program National Championships this year and placed fourth on vault and floor, thanks to some major upgrades she’s been working. On vault, that came in the form of a Yurchenko 1.5 that should be a valuable addition to the Gators’ vault lineup, especially with Thomas, Schoenherr, Baumann, and maybe Richards all exiting after this season.
On floor, Bluffstone upgraded her opening pass to a full-in, giving her that coveted E pass that most Florida floor performers compete. She’s also an engaging performer – choreographer Jeremy James Miranda is going to have fun creating routines with her over the years.
Who’s Missing?
Shilese Jones is still missing from the roster, but she Gator chomped for pictures with Blakely and current Gator Leanne Wong with their various medals from World Championships in Liverpool just a few weeks ago. She’s also been praised as a Gator by team members across social media, so keep those fingers crossed! Jones will also be in the mix for Paris, so it’s more likely she’ll sign for 2025 at this point, but after as many seasons she’s deferred now, it’s hard to say.
Overall Impression
Some folks may be concerned about how this class is going to replace the massive routine exodus we’ll see after this season. With Baumann, Clapper, Schoenherr, Taylor, and Thomas, that’s likely ten routines from the regular lineup that will need to be replaced, and it could be more if Richards decides not to take her extra year of eligibility. However, this class has more to them than meets the eye, and their strengths vary widely across the board. It’s a well-rounded class, and with Blakely deferring, it doesn’t necessarily have one strongest standout. 2024 should be another great season for the Gators with these five coming in, and Gator fans will wait as long as they need to for Blakely, especially if it means adding another Olympian to the roster!
Florida volleyball’s final home series opened with a (25-18, 25-21, 25-21) sweep in the first match Saturday. The No. 10 Gators played the No. 18 Kentucky Wildcats in a match to decide who would take sole possession of the top of the Southeastern Conference.
The two teams played three close sets, but Florida had the leverage for the majority of game time and walked away sitting atop the SEC with a 13-2 conference record.
The first set started with a service ace by the Wildcats to give them the early lead. However, the next serve was a service error, and the set was tied at 1-1 without Florida ever touching the ball.
After exchanging kills, the set was tied and freshman Alexis Stucky earned the advantage for the Gators with a service ace. The teams took turns getting out front and tying it back up, but after taking a 8-7 lead, Florida lost some momentum to Kentucky.
The Wildcats went on a four serve run to take a three-point lead at 11-8. Florida stayed close, not allowing breathing room for Kentucky until it tied it up and took the lead after an attack error by Kentucky junior Reagan Rutherford and a kill by Florida junior Sofia Victoria.
Florida stayed hot, winning its eighth point in nine serves after Stucky registered a kill to give the Gators a 21-16 lead and force a timeout by the Wildcats. The Gators kept their momentum through the set and won 25-18 after Emerson Hoyle found Stucky for her third kill in the first set alone.
Despite Florida ending the first set on a run, Kentucky had all the momentum early in the second set. The Wildcats won four of the first five serves, three of them due to kills by Kentucky senior Adanna Rollins.
Florida ripped the lead from Kentucky when it went on a five-point run to give itself a 8-6 lead. Kentucky was awarded a point after Florida sophomore Merritt Beason committed a service error, but the home team scored two more in a row to give it a 10-7 lead.
The Wildcats won two serves in a row and began building some confidence, but a three-point run put the Gators out front, 14-10. Kentucky crept closer and closer until it finally tied the set at 20 with a kill by redshirt junior Bella Bell.
Florida responded appropriately and won five of six serves, with three serves in a row ending with blocks by sophomore Gabrielle Essix to take the 25-21 second-set victory. Essix earned her second kill of the night to win the set for the Gators.
The Gators opened the third set strong, with Essix and senior Marina Markova stuffing Rutherford’s attack. After points by each team, Kentucky won two serves in a row and held a 3-2 lead.
Florida regained the lead at 5-4 after a kill and block by Victoria, but the Wildcats took it back immediately. UF was within two points and tied the set five times until UK took a 17-14 lead after winning two serves in a row.
Kentucky pushed its lead to four points, and sophomore Trinity Adams responded with a diving save that fell on Kentucky’s side of the court. Rollins got a kill for the Wildcats, but Florida earned two points in a row from kills by Markova and Essix to come within two.
Rutherford and Bell blocked Markova, but the Gators didn’t fall out of the set. An attack error by Kentucky and a service ace by freshman Emily Canaan brought Florida within one, 20-19, and forced a timeout by Kentucky.
Beason scored the first point out of the timeout with her sixth kill of the night to tie the set. Essix broke the tie with her fourth kill of the night. Despite the four-point slide, Kentucky’s Rutherford got a kill to tie the set back up at 21.
However, the Gators found their stride. Stucky found Victoria twice in a row for kills to put the home team up, 23-21. Victoria got her third kill in a row and junior Elli McKissock’s service ace won the third set (25-21) and the match (3-0) for the Gators.
Beason struggled in the match, earning 6 kills on 21 attempts with 4 errors for a .095 hitting percentage. In her absence her teammates stepped up to fill in the gaps. Head coach Mary Wise said any night any player can step up and be the difference maker.
“This is who the Florida Gators of ‘22 are,” Wise said.
Victoria led the team with 13 kills, and Markova contributed 11 of her own. Stucky was her usual self and led the offense with 35 assists in the match, while also tying her career high in kills with five.
The Gators offense had 13 more kills, 46 compared to 33, than the Wildcats. The Gators defense showed out with Essix and Markova led the way with stuffs at the net, tallying 5 and 4 blocks respectively.
McKissock and Canaan each had double-digit digs. McKissock’s 15 and Canaan’s 10 helped the Gators outmatch the Wildcats by 20. Florida had 53 digs and Kentucky had 33.
The Gators will turn around to play the Wildcats again in less than 24 hours. Wise said Kentucky is going to come out even more inspired and the Gators will have to prepare for that.
“We learn from every match,” Wise said, “whether we had won 3-0 or lost 0-3.”
The Gators play the Wildcats again at 2 p.m. Sunday for Florida’s senior night at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
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