No. 7 Florida volleyball opens its home portion of the SEC schedule against No. 11 Tennessee at 7 p.m. Friday.
The Gators are 10-1 overall and 1-0 in SEC play after sweeping Oklahoma last Sunday on the road.
Florida is off to a dominating start to the season. This time last year, the Gators had a 6-5 record.
The Gators were then adapting to new leadership. Coach Ryan Theis was in his first season after taking over for Gator Great Mary Wise, who announced her retirement in February of 2025 after coaching 34 seasons at Florida and finished with a 981-150 (.868) record, including 25 SEC regular-season titles.
UF also lost All-American outside and right-side hitter Kennedy Martin to Penn State. Martin was a key component in the offense, leading Florida in 2024 with 5.57 kills per set.
Jumping to this season, Florida’s lineup looks like it has finally found its way again.
With offensive transfers Kamryn Chaney, Logan King, Brianna Holladay and Selena Leban bonding, inconsistencies in scoring have decreased. Chaney leads the Gators with 3.91 kills per set and King following suit with 2.7.
After 2025, All-American setter Alexis Stucky also transferred to Penn State. Yet, junior Taylor Parks has stepped into the starting role with grace. Parks appeared in 24 games out of 28 last season, but only led the team in assists for one game. She averaged 1.82 assists per set and so far this season averages 10.53.
Glancing at Tennessee (9-1, 0-1), outside Kennedi Rogers is the player to watch. Rogers averages 4.47 kills per set. Freshman outside Morgan Williams is also a threat with 3.67 kills per set.
Florida’s middle and right-side attackers will have to maintain fast transitions from defensive blocks to offensive plays in order to build momentum against an offensively strong opponent.
The Gators defense will be of minimal help in this match if the net attackers do not give themselves enough time to set up before their approach.
King was named SEC Co-Defensive Player of the week Sept. 21 and is the first Gator to be named SEC Defensive Player of the Week since libero Elli McKissock in 2024. Meaning, the Gators offense is balanced and has the talent to keep Tennessee’s swings out of Florida’s back row.
Florida Libero Lily Hayes averages 4.11 digs per set and a 0.985 receiving percentage. Tennessee’s Raegan Burns averages 2.92 and a 0.96 receiving percentage. This reiterates that Florida’s defense will be a dependent component to the game.
However, the sport is literally dependent on someone making a mistake every point. Hayes will have a challenging game regardless. But Florida’s defense can only do so much if its offense is unable to quickly end the rally.
In short, Florida will be pushed Friday night. If the Gators’ front row can quickly score, before allowing Tennessee’s offense space, the team has a solid chance of beating the Vols.
After Friday’s game, Florida remains at home to face No. 3 Kentucky (10-2) Sunday night. There will be a lot on the line for this game as the Gators could reach the top 5 with a defeat of Kentucky.
Kentucky beat No. 7 Texas on Sunday in a sweep, 3-0.
Kentucky’s leading hitter in kills per set is outside Brooklyn DeLeye. She averages 4.29 kills per set and will be the opposing player to watch Sunday.
UF has promotions to get fans to attend both Friday (Pack the Dome) and then Sunday’s 8:30 p.m. (Block Party) match against Kentucky. Coverage will be on WRUF 98.1-FM/850-AM/103.7 HD2 ESPN 15 minutes before match time.
