The Florida Gator volleyball team defeated the Texas A&M Aggies 3-2 (24-26, 25-23, 25-8, 24-26, 16-14) in College Station in a five set thriller on Sunday. It was Florida’s first five set match of the season and four of the five sets were decided by two points.
Florida won the match with two consecutive aces by Taylor Unroe to end the fifth set.
“I don’t think any of us could be any happier for Taylor Unroe,” Gator head coach Mary Wise said. “I don’t think anybody, any Texas A&M fan, would want her to be going back to serve right there with the score tied, match point on the line, and she stepped up and made two just great serves.”
Unroe was hot from the back line all day, recording career high six aces in the match.
Two other Gators also had career days, as Chloe Mann and Alex Holston both registered career high kills. Mann finished with 22 to lead Florida, while Holston slammed down 21 on the Aggies.
“Those two were just terrific there, throughout the entire match” Wise said. “They’re all over everybody’s scouting report, and how hard they worked. Those were not easy kills.”
Gabby Mallette and Ziva Recek also recorded double digit kills for the Gators, both finishing with 10.
Florida now will have more than a week off to prepare for the remainder of their SEC schedule. Wise believes the time off will benefit the Gators.
“Now we have 10 days, with video to show them where we can get better…what a lucky break for us to be able to take this time and really work on our individual team skills,” she said.
The Gators will return to the court November 13th when they take on the South Carolina Gamecocks in the O-Dome.
To hear Coach Wise’s comments, click below: