No. 7 Florida Volleyball Rides Eight-Game Win Streak to Sweep No. 11 Tennessee
Florida came out of the final timeout of the game – the score 24-23 Gators. Florida already won the first two sets, and it all came down to one final play.
Logan King served the ball, and Tennessee went for the kill. Bella Lee dug the ball all the way across the net. Tennessee missed a cue and set the ball past the antennae.
The roar of the O’Dome cancelled out the entire Florida band. No game announcer needed to say the news – No. 7 Florida (10-1, 1-0 SEC) swept the No. 11 Tennessee Vols (9-3, 0-2 SEC) for its eighth straight win.
In three sets, the Gators left Tennessee speechless, improving their overall home SEC-opening record to 38-5. Florida also bested its season high in points in a three-set game, totaling 75 Friday.
“I like the way these guys fight,” Coach Ryan Theis said. “Tennessee came out throwing punches in the third, and we just kept going.”
The Gators and the Vols both came into this match as a top-10-rated offense nationally, and the second (.300) and third-most (.298) offensively efficient teams in the SEC, respectively.
Friday night, Tennessee failed to average over .200, a testament to Florida’s defensive performance. In the second set, the Gators even limited the Vols to an underwhelming .053 hitting percentage on 38 attempts.
The Gators totaled 54 digs, beating their season high of 47 last match in their Miami matchup. Every player who played tallied a dig, demonstrating Florida’s team commitment on defense, but it was Lily Hayes and Bella Lee who each led with 12 digs each.
Lee especially came up big on the defensive end for the Gators. As the specialist, she stayed in the back row, controlling hard attacks from Tennessee’s hitters.
In the front row, King and Brooklyn Briscoe tied for five blocks, which came at crucial moments. For example, early in the first set, King and Briscoe recorded a block, followed by a King kill, then another block and another King kill to fuel Florida’s 4-0 run and put the Gators up 9-7. The Gators later won the set 25-22.
King credits Ryan “Walt” Walthall for delivering the scouting statistics against Tennessee, on which she executed her best.
King also executed on offense – extremely well. She had a season-high 15 kills hitting .278. She ended the night with 36 total attempts and as Taylor Parks’ No. 1 offensive option. King said their growing chemistry off the court translates to their offensive execution on the court.
“We like to do this thing called having little dates,” she said. “That makes it super easy to really be able to give quick and efficient conversations on the court and get things moving in the right direction.”
The finishing touch for the Gators’ sweep: a near-perfect serving night.
Florida only totaled five serving errors the entire match, a stark difference from 14 against Oklahoma Sunday. Theis mentioned after the team’s SEC opener that he wanted to improve that area before Friday’s game, and the Gators delivered on his request.
“Home cooking,” he said, describing why Florida served well. “There’s no doubt we’re more comfortable in here [the O’Connell Center].”
That home advantage will be key in Sunday’s matchup against the No. 3 Kentucky Wildcats. The biggest takeaway Theis is bringing to that matchup: the team’s grit.
“Kentucky’s really good,” he said. “We’re going to have our hands full Sunday night.”
Category: Gator Sports, Gators Volleyball
