The No. 16 Florida volleyball team (21-4, 15-1 SEC) battled
to take its 15th sweep of the season, taking a three-set win over the Ole Miss
Rebels, 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-17). The Rebels fall to 10-15 on the year and
4-12 in conference action.
The Gators were led by freshman Živa Recek (Kočevje,
Slovenia), who put down 15 kills on the afternoon. Fellow freshman Berkley
Whaley (St. Petersburg, Fla.) was virtually unstoppable with six errorless
kills on 12 swings. Seniors Tangerine Wiggs (Seattle, Wash.) and Betsy
Smith (Atlanta, Ga.) tallied nine and seven kills, respectively, combining
for a .577 hitting clip. Smith and Wiggs also stuffed a team-high three blocks.
“The fact that today’s match was won in three sets may look
like it was easy, but Ole Miss played some of its best volleyball today,”
Florida head coach Mary Wise said. “They were swinging with no fear and certainly
won the battle of the middles in the first two sets.”
On the whole, Florida hit .365 for the match, courtesy of
junior setter Taylor Brauneis (Crystal Lake, Ill.), who dished out 40
assists on the afternoon. Sophomore libero Taylor Unroe (Muncie, Ind.)
scooped a match-high 16 digs to go along with two aces, finding a way to
frustrate the Rebels’ offense by touching nearly every attack. Joining her in
patrolling the back row was sophomore Holly Pole (Ocala, Fla.), who
followed up her impressive performance at Missouri (12 digs) by recording nine
against the Rebels.
Florida took the opening stanza, 25-22. The teams traded
side-outs and the lead to start the match, with Ole Miss taking a two-point lead
at 6-4. The Gators utilized a Recek back row kill and an Ole Miss miscue to
take a 10-8 lead in the first. An Unroe ace and ensuing Smith kill forced Ole
Miss to call timeout with Florida leading, 13-9. The Rebels fought back out of
the break to tie the set at 14-all, as the Gators burned a timeout of their
own.
Florida was the first to the double-decade mark at 20-17 off
a Recek service ace. Ole Miss stormed back to tie the set at 20-all and scored
two straight after the Florida timeout to lead 22-20. The Gators tied the set
at 22-all after a Smith overpass kill and a kills by Whaley and Smith set up
set point for the Orange and Blue, 24-22. An Unroe ace sealed the opening
stanza for the Gators, 25-22.
Florida withstood an Ole Miss rally to take the second set,
25-22.The Gators took a two-point lead in the second set off a Wiggs kill, 4-2,
and a Recek slam off the block kept the advantage, 7-5. The Rebels pulled
within one, 8-7, but the Gators went on a 4-1 run as the Florida block came
alive and back-to-back Mann-Wiggs stuff blocks put the Orange and Blue ahead,
12-8. Back-to-back Whaley kills put the Gators up by six, 16-10, but the Rebels
fought back to pull within two, 17-15.
A Florida hitting error cut the UF lead to just one, 19-18,
and a Rebel ace tied the set at 19. Recek put away an out-of-system ball to get
the lead back on the Gators’ side, 20-19. Recek tooled the block at 21-20 to
keep the Florida advantage and a Whaley-Smith stuff block set up set point for
the Gators, 24-22, forcing a Rebel timeout. A Recek kill that nicked the
sideline tilted the set in Florida’s favor, 25-22.
The Gators were firing on all cylinders in the third stanza,
taking the frame, 25-17. The third set started the same as the first two, as
the teams battled for the lead. Florida took a slight lead at 5-4 off a
Wiggs-Smith stuff block and extended the advantage to two, 7-5, after an Ole
Miss attacking error. The Gators pushed the lead to three off a Pole service
ace, 9-6, but the Rebs fought to get back in the frame, tying the set at 10-all
off a Gator attacking error. Florida went on a 4-0 run behind the serve of
Brauneis to take a 14-10 lead and force an Ole Miss timeout.
A Smith-Brauneis stuff extended the Gator advantage to five,
18-13, and the Rebels took timeout after an Ole Miss hitting error, 19-13. A
Recek kill got the Gators to the double-decade mark, 20-16, and a perfect
connection on the slide between Brauneis and Smith put Florida within two of
the set, 23-17. Recek rolled a kill into the campfire defense and set up match
point, 24-17. An Ole Miss hitting error put the match win in Florida’s hands,
25-17.
Florida returns home for their final regular season weekend
at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. The Gators welcome the LSU Tigers for their
first and only matchup of the season on Friday evening. First serve is set for
7 p.m. ET on ESPN 850/900. On Sunday, the Gators host the South Carolina
Gamecocks on Florida’s Senior Day. The match, honoring Betsy Smith, Sundai
Weston, and Tangerine Wiggs, will air live on Sun Sports and ESPN
850/900. First serve is set for 1:30 p.m. ET.
Florida has a three-match lead in the SEC standings heading
into the final weekends of SEC play, and the Gators must win two more matches
to take home the Southeastern Conference title outright. Florida can also claim
the title with one more victory if SEC foes Tennessee and Texas A&M each
suffer a loss next Friday evening.
