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The whistle blew for the last time on the Gators season Saturday, ending their time in the NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship. The loss to Georgia Tech was a small section of a season of injuries, expectations and rising stars.
Accomplishments
The Gators finished the regular season fourth in the SEC and top-25 in the nation. They ended 19-10, beating ranked opponents like No. 8 Penn State, No. 2 Stanford and No. 5 Minnesota. When the team was healthy, they had the edge in the Swamp, ending with a 9-7 record. When they were away, they limited their losses, recording nine wins and three losses.
“I think this group was just such a special team,” Head Coach Mary Wise said. “They learned the beauty, the best parts of athletics. . . .They’ll never forget the friendships that were forged. To battle and to improve as much as we did over the course of this year.”
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Improvements
The end of the Gators season was marked by injuries to season-ending Alexis Stucky and Anna Dixon. An injury to Stucky’s ACL and MCL ended the All-American setter’s season and began to sink the rising expectations of the Gators. While earlier in the season, the women were able to pull off wins against ranked opponents, they began to lose.
Starting in October, the Gators lost to No. 25 Auburn, No. 10 Arkansas, No. 11 Tennessee and No. 13 Kentucky. However, the story of Kennedy Muff, the graduate transfer who helped the team recover after Stucky’s injury, demonstrates the resilience of the team.
Looking Ahead
Florida’s future depends on players like Kennedy Martin and Trinity Adams. Martin finished the year with 492 Kills and 31 Aces out of 1120 total attempts. Adams finished the year will a career-high of 31 Aces. With the combined abilities of Martin and Adams, Florida is expected to draw recruits to the program, building on the success of the previous years.
While Florida didn’t advance, they position themselves well as a competitive team who had struggles as well as success.
“We’ve got in two different rankings the number one recruiting class in the country coming back,” Wise said. “The future is very, very bright.”
