The No. 11 University
of Florida volleyball team (13-2, 7-0 SEC) completed an epic comeback, rallying
from two sets down to defeat SEC East rival Kentucky, 3-2 (22-25, 20-25, 25-22,
25-22, 15-8), on Sunday afternoon. The Wildcats fall to 10-7 on the year and
4-3 in SEC play. The Gators continue their undefeated streak in SEC action
(7-0) and are currently on a 10-match winning streak.
“I think the tale of
the match was that Kentucky played so well especially early on and we were just
having a hard time getting in sync offensively,” Florida head coach Mary Wise said. “It took us a while but
once we started passing the ball and allowed Taylor Brauneis to get a (quality)
ball, then we could start distributing. You have to give Kentucky so much
credit. Today, we saw how lethal they can be, especially with their ability to
get kills from so many different positions.”
“In a night in which
we didn’t have our best stuff and the opponent was playing so well, we stayed
the course,” Wise continued. “What most pleases me is that you never saw the
look of giving up or defeat on the team. They’re grinders and that’s who we
are.”
The comeback marked
the third time in four years that Florida rallied from an 0-2 hole to beat an
opponent and the second time in program history the Gators have come back from
an 0-2 deficit to defeat Kentucky (10/22/86 in Lexington). UF has come back
from an 0-2 deficit 16 times in program history, seven
of those at home. Sunday’s match was third-highest attended home match of the
season with 3,008 strong rallying the team to victory.
“It was awesome,”
Florida junior setter Taylor Brauneis (Crystal
Lake, Ill.) said. “We come in (to the press conference) and we’re smiling
because the fans were in it and we were in it. It was a total team effort and
it just feels amazing.”
Florida was led by
the hard-hitting duo of junior middle blocker Chloe Mann (Gainesville, Fla.) and freshman outside hitter Živa Recek (Kočevje, Slovenia).
Mann hit .409 against the ‘Cats, registering 11 kills and six blocks, while
Recek notched a match-high 19 kills to go along with eight digs. Recek’s kill
total marks the 10th time this season she has led Florida in kills and is the
highest kill output in a five-set match since Mann and Florida All-American Kristy Jaeckel recorded 19 each on the
road in the Gators’ 3-2 comeback win over Arkansas.
Freshman Gabby Mallette (Orange Park, Fla.) stuffed
six blocks on Sunday, finishing up a stellar defensive weekend at the net for the
Gators, who tallied 28 blocks on the weekend. Senior Tangerine Wiggs (Seattle, Wash.) had her 10th match of the season
hitting above .300 (min. 5 kills), smashing nine kills on .348 hitting and
coming on strong for Florida with three kills in the final stanza.
“I think you could
see it in the numbers; there was an inspired group on the bench,” Wise
commented. “Our seniors, Betsy and Tange, as well as Chloe were terrific and
they just had that look about them that they weren’t going to go down without a
fight.”
Brauneis dished out
47 assists against UK, narrowly missing a double-double
with nine digs. Sophomore libero Taylor
Unroe (Muncie, Ind.) scooped 16 digs and fellow sophomores Madison Monserez (Orlando, Fla.) and Holly Pole (Ocala, Fla.) combined for
11 digs on the afternoon.
The Gators jumped out
to a 3-0 lead in the first set, courtesy of kills by Mann and Recek and a
Mann-Wiggs stuff block. A Mallette solo stuff put the Gators ahead, 7-3, but
Kentucky went on a 6-0 run behind the serve of Alex Morgan to jump out in
front, 9-7. A Mallette cross-court kill briefly stopped the Wildcat run but a
quick kill out of the middle by Mann briefly shifted the momentum back towards
the Gators. UK regrouped and continued to surge, forcing a UF timeout with the
Gators down, 13-10. The Wildcats got out to their largest lead of the set
behind the serve of Ashley Frazier with the ‘Cats leading 16-10. Two quick
kills off the block for Recek inched the Gators within three of the Wildcat
lead, 17-14, forcing a UK timeout.
A Mallette kill
off-hands out of the Florida timeout kept the Gators’ rally alive, down 22-18.
Back-to-back Mann-Wiggs stuff blocks forced the ‘Cats second timeout of the
set, as UF pulled within two, down 22-20. A Mallette-Mann roof put Florida
within one of Kentucky at 23-22 and a Wiggs slam out of the middle saved a
Wildcat set point. Florida’s rally fell short in the end, as Kentucky pulled
away with the first set victory, 25-22.
Kentucky kept the
momentum heading into the second stanza, pulling ahead 5-2 behind the serve of
Lauren O’Conner. The Gators pulled within one of the Wildcats courtesy of
back-to-back UK miscues but Kentucky rolled on a 4-0 run to force a Florida
timeout, down 8-4. Florida was unable to find a rhythm early, as UK continued
to surge, up 12-7. Back-to-back UK errors got the Gators within three, down
12-9. A Wiggs kill briefly paused the UK run but Kentucky went on a 4-0 run to
leap ahead 17-10 and force the Gators to burn their second timeout of the set.
The Gators put
together a 3-0 rally late in set two to pull within six at 20-14 and force the
‘Cats to use their first timeout of the stanza. Kills by Brauneis and redshirt
freshman middle blocker Simone Antwi (Fairfax
Station, Va.) kept the Gators in the set at 21-17 and back-to-back UK hitting
errors put Florida within four, down 22-18. A Mann solo stuff kept the stanza
tight, 23-19, but the Wildcats put the set away off a Gator misfire, 25-20.
The opening of the
third set featured seven ties and two lead changes, as two kills for Recek kept
the Gators out in front early, 3-2. Florida continued to push, pulling ahead
10-7 behind the serve of Recek, forcing a UK timeout. An Antwi solo stuff
continued the Florida surge, as the Gators led 11-7. Back-to-back Florida
errors allowed Kentucky to pull within one, 12-11. The Gators kept their
composure and quickly extended their lead to three, 14-11. A Recek slam through
the seam of the Kentucky block forced a second UK timeout with Florida ahead,
17-13.
The Wildcats didn’t
back down despite the deficit and tied the set at 18-18 behind the serve of
Frazier. A kill down the pipe for Recek gave the Gators a 21-20 advantage and a
Wiggs slam to the deep corner put Florida ahead, 22-21. Back-to-back overpass
kills for Recek put Florida at set point, 24-21, and a UK hitting error tilted
the stanza in the Gators’ favor, 25-22. Freshman Recek put the Gators on her
back in the third set, slamming eight errorless kills to hit .533 out of
intermission.
“We asked a whole lot
of a freshman,” Wise noted. “She serves, passes, plays in the middle back, and
(today) she was matched up against one of the premiere right-side players in
the country in Whitney Billings. Two of the things that we’ve been impressed
with from Ziva from the get-go are her volleyball IQ and how hard she
competes.”
The Orange and Blue
jumped out to a 5-0 advantage in the fourth set behind the serve of Recek, as
four UK errors in the opening points put Florida in the lead. A Mallette slam
through the seam of the UK block kept the Gators ahead, 6-1, and a
Brauneis-to-Mann kill off the quick set gave the Gators an 8-3 lead. An Unroe
ace kept UF up, 11-6. Rookie Mallette was a part of two huge blocks as she teamed
up with Smith for a roof at 14-9 and again with Mann at 16-10. Brauneis served
up an ace to keep the Gators rolling out of the ‘Cats timeout at 17-10.
UK pulled within five
after winning a long rally but back-to-back Kentucky errors got the Gators to
the double-decade mark at 20-13. A Smith slam out of the middle got the Gators
within four of the set at 21-14 but back-to-back UF errors forced the Gators to
call timeout at 22-17. Recek halted the Wildcat run with a slam down the line
to get the Gators within two of forcing a fifth at 23-18. Smith slammed a kill
of the slide to set up set point, 24-20. UK put together two quick points to
force the Orange and Blue to take their final timeout of the fourth stanza,
24-22. A Mallette kill through the seam of the block forced the fifth and
decisive set, 25-22.
UK got out to a 2-0
lead in the fifth but a Mann quick kill and an ace for Pole tied the set at
2-2. Recek tipped one right behind the block to go up 4-3 and back-to-back
rocket kills by Wiggs forced a UK timeout with UF leading 6-3. An overpass kill
for Wiggs gave the Gators an 8-4 lead as the teams switched sides. Recek nailed
an ace to get the Gators to double digits at 10-5. A Kentucky service error and
ensuing kill by Recek forced the Wildcats’ second timeout of the stanza with
Florida ahead, 12-6. Recek nailed one down the pipe to set up match point and
Mann put the match away for Florida, 15-8.
Florida has held
Kentucky to its two lowest hitting percentages in SEC play this season
(9/16/12: 150; 10/7/12: .185) and the Gators swept the Wildcats on the season
for the second time in three years.
