The No.
15 University of Florida volleyball team (5-2, 0-0 SEC) pulled out a four-set
victory over Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns, 3-1 (25-15, 25-14, 23-25, 25-12), on
Saturday afternoon to earn their second win of the Active Ankle Challenge.
Florida
freshman Živa Recek (Kočevje, Slovenia) led the way once
again for the Gators, tallying her first career double-double with 13 kills and
13 digs against Louisiana, while senior Tangerine Wiggs (Seattle, Wash.)
and junior Chloe Mann (Gainesville, Fla.) each put up 10 kills. Wiggs
and Mann’s numbers were impressive, as Wiggs hit an errorless .667 and Mann
only played in sets one and four, hitting .533.
The
Gators held the Ragin’ Cajuns to a .150 hitting percentage, as the Orange and
Blue put up 50 digs, including double-digit digs by Recek and sophomore libero Taylor
Unroe (Muncie, Ind.), who scooped a match-high 15. Junior setter Taylor
Brauneis (Crystal Lake, Ill.) dished out 36 assists on the afternoon,
adding two service aces and a match-high three blocks against UL. Senior Betsy
Smith (Atlanta, Ga.) had a solid afternoon, registering seven kills, two
blocks and a season-high-tying three digs against Louisiana.
The
teams traded points to open the set before Recek served six straight points to
put the Gators ahead, 9-3. A Recek-Mann stuff block extended the Florida lead to
14-6 and an Unroe ace continued the surge, 16-7. Florida took its largest lead
of the set off a smart swing to the back left corner by Mann, 21-10. The Gators
kept the Ragin’ Cajuns at bay with quick sets to Mann and Mallette and Florida
took the first set off a tip to the middle by Mann, 25-15.
Redshirt
freshman Simone Antwi (Fairfax Station, Va.) got things started for the
Gators in set two, serving five consecutive points for the Orange and Blue to
put Florida ahead, 8-2. A Brauneis-Smith stuff block continued the Gators’
lead, 11-3. Brauneis then put up a dumped kill and an ensuing service ace to go
ahead at the halfway mark, 15-6. Florida continued to roll, going up 19-10 on a
Monserez service ace to force a Ragin’ Cajun timeout. A Brauneis stuff block at
22-12 put the Gators up by double digits and a Pole service ace ended the set
in the Gators’ favor, 25-14.
The
teams traded serve to open the third set with Louisiana taking its first lead
of the match at 8-7, but a quick dumped kill by Backlund tied the set at 8
apiece. The Ragin’ Cajuns continued to fight, taking the lead once again 10-9.
The Gators took the lead back off a kill by Recek at 12-11 but a Florida
hitting error gave the edge back to UL with UF down 14-15. A Ragin’ Cajun hitting
error gave Florida the two-point advantage and forced a Louisiana timeout,
17-15. Antwi used three kills to squash the UL surge, 21-19, but the Ragin’
Cajuns weren’t going to go quietly and used a stuff block to tie the set at 22,
forcing a Florida timeout. Louisiana set up set point at 24-23 off a kill by
Andrea Hole. A Tonice White kill gave the set to the Ragin’ Cajuns, 25-23.
A
Mann-Wiggs roof started the set off strong for the Orange and Blue, and a Wiggs
slam inside the UL block put Florida ahead, 6-3. Smith nailed a kill off the
slide to put the Gators up, 7-4, and back-to-back Recek kills extended the UF
lead, 11-5. Louisiana called timeout after a bullet of a kill by Mallette and a
Recek kill down the pipe gave the Gators a 14-5 edge. A cut swing inside the
block for Mallette extended the Gator advantage, 19-8, and a Mann overpass kill
got the Gators to the double-decade mark, 20-8. A quick set from Brauneis to
Mann set up match point for Florida at 24-10 and a Mann kill ended the match,
25-12.
