Gator Volleyball Team Sweeps Clemson

The Gator volleyball team exceeded expectations Friday night when they swept Clemson in straight sets. The energy inside the Exactech Arena at the O’Connell Center was electric as the Gators secured their sixth consecutive win to start the season.

Gators SWEEP! 🧹🧹🧹#GoGators | Presented by @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/aH4iP59WWC

— Gators Volleyball (@GatorsVB) September 9, 2023

Offensive & Defensive Forces

Florida’s  offense stood out, with Kennedy Martin and Gabrielle Essix serving as huge assets. Blocking efforts were superior from the entire team overall as well. The team registered 12.5 blocks, and 9 of these blocks were performed by Essix and Martin. Martin even secured a career high. AC Fitzpatrick, Sofia Victoria and Anna Dixon also took part in the standout blocking efforts.

Martin, Fitzpatrick, Dixon and Victoria led the team. Martin also had a superior performance and completed the night with a .312 hitting average.

Alexis Stucky, to no surprise, stepped out and led the team in assists and even assisted the team in digs, alongside Elli Mckissock. Mckissock numbered 13 digs while Martin and Adams assisted defensively in the back row as well.

Set One

Florida began with the lead in set one, then the Tigers eventually caught up to tie the set at 13 all. From that, the Gators gained their lead back and were able to take the set with a 25-15 win.

Gators came out on 🔥 in Set 1! #GoGators pic.twitter.com/KvGuyE7c7o

— Gators Volleyball (@GatorsVB) September 8, 2023

Set Two

In set two, Clemson initially took the lead at 5-2, but then the Gators were able to take back the lead during Martin’s  four-point service rotation. The Gators took the great lead toward the end of the set, and after a five-point lead at 22-17, the Gators took a three-point run to take the game with a score of 25-17.

Set 2 ✅#GoGators pic.twitter.com/UqdDM9Ydud

— Gators Volleyball (@GatorsVB) September 9, 2023

Set Three – To Secure the Win

In contrast from the previous sets, the Tigers took a lead, with a score of 7-3. Clemson held onto this lead for a good portion of the set, until the Gators began to catch up and eventually met up to the Tigers with a tie at 18-18. After Fitzpatick secured a kill at point 20, the Gators finally took the lead. The end of set 3 was a nail-biter, as the score came to 24-all, but the Gators finally were able to secure the sweep after two Clemson errors. The Gators took set three 26-24 to win the match.

Friday dubs 😎#GoGators pic.twitter.com/80ob6TIsXr

— Gators Volleyball (@GatorsVB) September 9, 2023

Up Next

The Gators Invitational concludes today  3 p.m. against Winthrop.