The No. 11 Florida volleyball team faced a seemingly insurmountable
challenge on Sunday, as the Gators were down 0-2 to an experienced Texas
A&M team with a rocking crowd of 1,727 Aggie faithful at Reed Arena.
Florida, as they did Oct. 7 at home against Kentucky, came together and
came back as the Gators won the final three sets to claim the match, 3-2 (14-25,
25-27, 25-23, 25-23, 15-6), and stay undefeated in the SEC.
The Orange and Blue are now 17-2 on the season and 11-0 in conference
play, while the Aggies fall to 15-5 on the year and 7-4 in conference action.
“Down 0-2, due in large part to how well Texas A&M was playing, our
team showed so much character to just hang in there until we got some things on
track,” Florida head coach Mary Wise said. “We got better as the match
went on, thus we were able to come back and win.”
Florida’s middles had a stellar afternoon, as junior Chloe Mann (Gainesville,
Fla.) smashed 19 kills on a .486 hitting efficiency with only one error, and
senior Betsy Smith (Atlanta, Ga.) tallied a career-high 15 kills. Mann
tied with senior Tangerine Wiggs (Seattle, Wash.) for six blocks against
the Aggies, while Taylor Brauneis (Crystal Lake, Ill.) turned in her first
double-double at Florida with season highs of 55 assists and 14 digs. Brauneis
also served up a team-high two aces on the afternoon.
“We don’t win that match without the play of our middles, both
offensive and defensively,” Wise commented. “Their play this afternoon combined
with the set distribution of Taylor Brauneis is a reason we were able to even
have a chance to come back against a team like Texas A&M.”
Florida’s freshman outside hitters Živa Recek (Kočevje,
Slovenia) and Gabby Mallette (Orange Park, Fla.) both hit double-digit
kills, as Recek and Mann recorded 13 and 10 kills, respectively. Wiggs had nine
kills on the afternoon for 12.5 points.
The comeback marked the fourth time in four years Florida rallied from
an 0-2 hole to beat an opponent and the third time in program history the
Gators have come back from an 0-2 deficit twice in one season. UF has come back
from an 0-2 deficit 17 times in program history, eight of those on the road.
The Gators fell in the first set, 14-25. The teams battled to open the
match, with a Mann solo stuff giving the Gators a 5-3 lead. The Aggies used
scrappy defense to stop the high-powered Florida offense, winning back-to-back
rallies to go ahead, 9-6. A slam down the line by Recek kept the Gators within
striking distance, down 11-8. An A&M attacking error put Florida within
two, down 12-10.
The Aggies rattled off two quick points, forcing Florida into their
first timeout of the set, down 14-10. Texas A&M continued to roll out of
the timeout, as the Gators burned their final timeout of the set, down 17-10.
Florida was unable to stop the Texas A&M momentum, as the Aggies took the
first stanza, 25-14.
The Aggies took the second stanza, 27-25. Florida started well early in
the second frame, as a Mann kill and a Mann-Wiggs block put the Gators ahead,
2-0. Texas A&M regained its momentum from the first set, jumping ahead to a
6-3 lead and forcing a Florida timeout. The Gators began to get their passing
legs back, making it easier for Brauneis to distribute the ball as Florida
pulled within one, down 10-9.
Florida won a long rally to get within two, 13-11, and an Unroe ace
made it a one-point Aggie advantage, UF down 13-12. A Recek tool off the block
kept the set tight, down 14-13. A Recek-Smith stuff block got the Gators back
within one, down 15-14. The Aggies began to pull away, as an A&M roof
forced the Gators into a timeout, down 21-17.
Florida battled back, using a Recek-Smith block and back-to-back Smith
kills to get within one of the A&M lead, down 22-21, forcing an Aggie
timeout. A Mallette kill tied the set at 23-23 but A&M made it to set point
first with UF down, 24-23. A Smith kill tied the set at 24-24, saving a set
point. A Mallette kill to the back corner set up set point for the Gators with
their first lead of the set since 2-0, UF up 25-24. An A&M kill saved the
set for the Aggies, 25-25. Back-to-back Tori Mellinger kills tilted the set in
Texas A&M’s favor, 27-25.
Florida staved off a late Texas A&M rally to take the third set,
25-23. The teams battled to open the third frame, as a Smith stuff block tied
the set, 4-4. Smith tipped over the block on the slide to pull ahead, 6-5. A
Mellinger attacking error put the Gators up by two, 7-5. A Smith slide kill
kept the two-point advantage in Florida’s favor, 8-6. A Mann-Wiggs stuff block
and ensuing Aggie hitting error forced an A&M timeout as Florida jumped
ahead, 12-7. A Wiggs solo stuff put the Gators ahead, 14-7. Smith slammed one
to the left of the A&M block to lead 18-11.
The Aggies put together three straight points to force a Gator timeout
with Florida leading 18-14. A&M scored another three straight out of the
timeout, cutting the Gator lead to one at 18-17. Mann slammed a kill through
the A&M block to lead, 20-18 and a Wiggs kill off the block put Florida
within four of the set, 21-20. The Aggies called timeout after an A&M
hitting error with Florida leading, 22-20. Recek killed one off hands to put
the Gators within two of the set, 23-21. A Recek-Smith roof gave Florida set
point, 24-21. After two quick Aggie points, Florida called timeout ahead 24-23.
Recek took the set into her hands, slamming a kill through the seam in the
A&M block to take the third set, 25-23.
In the fourth set, the Aggies and the Gators battled but the set went
the Gators’ way, 25-23. Texas A&M jumped out to a quick 5-2 lead in the
fourth set but Florida rattled off three straight to tie the set, 5-5. A
Mallette off-speed kill pulled the Gators within one of the Aggie lead, UF down
8-7. Texas A&M strung together two-in-a-row to pull ahead, 10-7. A Mallette
kill and Brauneis service ace put Florida within one, down 10-9. An A&M
block extended the Aggie lead and forced a Gator timeout, UF down 13-10. A Mann
kill out of the timeout cut the A&M lead to two, UF down 13-11, and a Smith
kill kept the set close, trailing 14-12.
After an Aggie run put A&M up by five, the Gators put together one
of their own, tying the set 17-17 behind the serve of Recek and forcing an
A&M timeout. Florida scored two straight out of the timeout to lead 19-17. Mallette
nailed a kill high off-hands to go ahead, 20-18. Texas A&M scored two
straight to tie the set at 20-20. A Mann kill and Mann-Wiggs roof put the
Gators within three of the set and forced an Aggie timeout, 22-20. Kills by
Mann and Recek gave Florida three set points, 24-21, but A&M saved two of
them to force a Gator timeout at 24-23. Mann slammed her 17th kill of the
afternoon to force the fifth, 25-23.
The Gators took two of the first three points of the fifth and decisive
set and never looked back. Wiggs tooled one off the block and Recek cut a kill
inside the block to lead, 2-1. Wiggs ripped a kill in the middle to lead, 3-2.
Smith used her go-to slide to go up 4-3 and back-to-back A&M hitting errors
gave the Gators a three-point advantage, 6-3. Kills by Smith and Mann put
Florida ahead, 8-4, as the teams switched sides.
Two kills by Mallette and a backrow slam by Recek put the Gators up,
12-5, forcing an A&M timeout. Mann slammed one through the seam in the
Aggie block to go ahead, 13-6, and a Mann-Wiggs block set up match point at
14-6. Recek slammed one down the line to give the Gators the set and the match,
15-6.
