The No. 11 University of Florida volleyball team continued its unbeaten
streak in conference play, as the Gators (16-2, 10-0 SEC) swept the Alabama
Crimson Tide in three sets (25-19, 25-16, 25-14) on Friday night at Foster
Auditorium.
Florida has won 13 straight matches dating back to its four-set defeat
at the hands of then-No. 7 Stanford at the Nike Big Four Classic. Alabama falls
to 14-8 on the year and 3-7 in SEC play.
“Tonight was one of those matches I was a little concerned about coming
into because we only play Alabama once and they’ve been playing well all year,”
Florida head coach Mary Wise said. “They’re dangerous at home and they
have a great atmosphere. They’re just going to get better and better.”
Junior middle blocker Chloe Mann (Gainesville, Fla.) had a
stellar night for the Orange and Blue, tallying a match-high 13 kills with just
one error for a .750 hitting percentage. Friday night was Mann’s eighth match
of the season hitting above .500 and the Gainesville native is now hitting a
remarkable .435 on the year.
The Gators held the Tide to just .036 on the night, the lowest hitting
percentage for a Florida opponent since Oct. 9, 2011 vs. LSU (.027). The Orange
and Blue hit .405 on Friday, the second-highest hitting percentage in SEC play
for the Gators. Junior setter Taylor Brauneis (Crystal Lake, Ill.)
dished out 37 assists on the evening, adding three kills and four digs.
“Once again, Taylor Brauneis did a superb job distributing the ball
tonight,” Wise said. “I also think Taylor Unroe (Muncie, Ind.) had one
of her best matches of the year with 18 digs. A year ago, a lot of the balls
she dug up tonight would have been kills. She’s getting three-option passes on
a lot of those hard-hit balls. Alabama would try not to hit to her and would
end up hitting into our block.”
Florida held Alabama’s Kayla Fitterer, one of the best hitters in the
SEC, to just four kills and a .154 hitting percentage on the night. Overall,
Florida has held their opponent to less than .200 in 13 matches in 2012.
“I have to give a lot of credit to (associate head coach) Dave Boos
and (volunteer assistant coach) Karl Miller for their work with the
defense this week,” Wise noted. “I think Taylor (Unroe) had one of her best
matches tonight in a Gator uniform.”
Recek led all players with a match-high 14.0 points, her 10th match of
the season leading the Gators in that category.
“She’s been so good for us in all aspects of the game,” Wise commented.
“All of our opponents try to pick on her because she’s a six-rotation outside
hitter but I think she handles the pressure really well. I think something she
was really good at tonight that won’t show up in a stat sheet was her block
set-up. She was able to force Alabama to hit right to our back row defense. She
did a great job tonight.”
The teams battled to open the set with the Crimson Tide taking a slight
lead in the early going, 4-3. The Gators used an Alabama miscue to build the
momentum on their side, going on a 6-1 run behind the serve of Recek. Bama
burned a timeout in an attempt to slow the Florida run but the Gators continued
to roll, leading by as many as seven at 15-8. The Tide began to chip away at
the Florida advantage, as the Gators called timeout with a three-point lead at
18-15. Florida quickly righted the ship and rattled off three straight points
behind the serve of Recek to get within four points of the set, 21-15. Recek
put away the match for the Gators, 25-19.
The second stanza was tight from the outset, as the teams combined for seven
ties and two lead changes. A 5-1 run got the Gators to a 14-10 lead and forced
a Tide timeout. Brauneis kept the Alabama defense guessing, distributing the
ball pin-to-pin and helping the Gators get to 20-12, courtesy of a dumped kill.
Back-to-back kills by Mann put Florida at set point and a Crimson Tide attack
error gave the Gators a 25-16 set victory and a 2-0 lead in the match.
The third set started similarly to the first two but the Gators soon
went on a 6-0 run to lead 11-8 and force a Tide timeout. Brauneis served up an
ace and her tricky jump float led to a Mann overpass kill, 16-10. Florida
continued to push, using back-to-back kills from Mann and Smith in the middle
to lead 20-13 as Alabama called their second timeout of the set. Unroe slammed
an ace on the back line to lead, 22-13, and put the Gators within three of the
match. Back-to-back Smith-Wiggs stuff blocks gave the Orange and Blue match
point and the match, 25-14.
