Gators Volleyball Snags First-Ranked Win of Season

A late-night game could not stop Gators volleyball from dominating Day 1 of the Big Ten/SEC Challenge in Madison, Wis.

No. 17 Florida upset the No. 11 Minnesota Gophers in four long sets, 3-1 (27-25, 24-26, 25-23, 25-21) at UW Fieldhouse on Tuesday. The Gators (2-0) kept the momentum from the season-opening win Sunday going.

“Love the grit,” Gators coach Ryan Theis told the school’s website. “That was a long stretch of having to play a very difficult team the first week, and I thought we had our ups and downs, but never lost our grit and the battle, then somebody gets hot and you get a win.”

One player pulled together the win in the final set: Kamryn Chaney. Despite two back-to-back attack errors, Chaney did not let up. She went on a 7-0 solo run to get Florida to the finish line. Six of Chaney’s 14 kills came from the run alone.

Before Chaney’s dominance, the match was a back-and-forth battle. The match featured 49 ties and 19 lead changes, with Florida unable to go on offensive runs most of the match. 

In addition to the team’s inability to maintain its lead, Florida also struggled to hit well in the first two sets. Compared to an average hitting percentage of .344 in the final two sets, the Gators hit under .160 early on. 

During the first two sets, Big Ten Network analyst Anna Connelly and broadcaster Paul Sunderland identified serving as a key factor in determining which team performed better in each set. 

In Set 1, the Gators had six aces and only two serving errors to win the set. However, in Set 2, the statistic flipped with the team serving only two aces and six errors, giving the set to the Gophers (1-2). 

Along with serving, Connelly added passing as a difference maker Tuesday. Taylor Parks directed the Gators’ offense as the team’s setter, ending the night with 46 assists.

Besides outdoing her performance last match against Stony Brook (26 assists), Parks also notched her second offensive career milestone in two days. Early in Set 1, she earned her 1,000th career assist to become the 18th Gator to do so.

Selena Leban also outdid herself against the Gophers, leading the Gators with 20 kills, 25.5 points and a hitting percentage of .326. Tuesday’s match broke her kill and point-career record. 

She also had two back-to-back serves to give Florida Set 1. 

Leban’s ability to score off serves and from different places on the court came from her ball control, a quality Theis called “First Team All-American.” Connelly also said Theis named Leban as one of the best serve receivers on the team. 

Leban did not take the title for most kills this match, though – it was Mckenna Wucherer. As Minnesota’s main offensive force, Wucherer ended with 21 kills, hitting .388%. The Gophers also dominated the blocking game, recording 11 total blocks compared to Florida’s five.

Florida will look to step up its defensive play as it aims to extend its win streak to three in Wednesday’s challenge matchup against No. 5 Wisconsin (1-3). The Gators will also reunite with former teammate Jaela Auguste, who transferred out last season. The match starts at 8 p.m. ET and airs on Fox Sports 1 (FS1).

Category: Feature Sports News, Gator Sports, Gators Volleyball