Florida Volleyball Wins 3-0 Against International Club In Exhibition
The Florida volleyball defeated professional Czech club PVK Olymp Praha in an exhibition match Tuesday night at the O’Connell Center, 25-11, 25-17 and 27-25.
Florida sat setter Alexis Stucky and outside hitter Jordyn Byrd to allow other teammates to gain experience in a non-pressure situation. This decision came after Stucky achieved her 11th and 12th career double-doubles in the two matches in Lincoln, Neb., last weekend. Byrd also received the AVCA All-Serve First Team honor for her position after tallying a career-high 23 kills against Pitt.
YA J BYRD @JordynByrd_14 https://t.co/3DBcUOhUGF
— Gators Volleyball (@GatorsVB) August 26, 2025
Freshman Lily Hayes also played less in the rotation, giving way for three players to have a go in the libero position. Senior Emily Canaan got the black jersey for set one, while Ella Vogel and Bella Lee received the spot in sets two and three, respectively.
“All four of those players are very talented,” Florida coach Ryan Theis said. “We didn’t even know going into last weekend necessarily how to rank them because of how close certain statistics were.”
Set three is where the squad from abroad shined. It had as large a lead of five, but the Gators made it close in the end. It went to match point three times before Florida was able to secure the win.
The Gators’ offseason has consisted of a trip to three countries to get some practice ahead of its 2025 schedule. From May 18-29, the squad traveled to Turkey, Slovenia and Italy.
After a weekend at the AVCA First Serve Showcase, Florida welcomed PVK Olymp Praha during the program’s preseason to Florida to prepare for the European club season. It played the UNF Ospreys before coming to Gainesville and it will face the UCF Knights in Orlando to conclude the trip.
Florida worked to make PVK’s time at UF as special as possible, Theis said.
“I’ve been on five international tours over my 25 years, and so many American teams go over and so few international teams come here, so it was great to host somebody,” Theis said. “When they threw the idea out to me, I said, ‘absolutely.'”
As PVK continues its Florida tour, the Gators work to improve ahead of their home opener against Norfolk State on Sunday. That match is set to begin at 1 p.m. (SEC Network+, ESPN 98.1-FM/850-AM WRUF) in the O’Connell Center.
“I hope a couple thousand people come in to cheer for these guys, because they work awfully hard for it,” Theis said.
Category: Gator Sports, Gators Volleyball, Volleyball
