Gators Volleyball Tops Vanderbilt in Four Sets

Florida volleyball took a four-set win over Vanderbilt Sunday afternoon, 25-19, 16-25, 25-17 and 25-18.

The Gators came into the weekend not ranked for the first time since 1991 and a 7-6 record. However, a win over Missouri Friday and over Vanderbilt took the Florida to a 9-6 record and 4-2 in SEC play. The victory put the Gators right back into the AVCA Top-25 conversation.

For the first time in 45 years, Vanderbilt University has a volleyball program, going 23-16 in its inaugural and only previous season from 1979 to 1980. The Commodores now sit at 5-10 (1-5 SEC) with a sweep Friday against Arkansas.

“I love that they added volleyball,” Florida coach Ryan Theis said. “It’s such a great volleyball town. I’m hoping they start growing, and Anders [Nelson], their coach, is an awesome guy. He’s a perfect fit. He’s going to have them competitive real quick.”

There was no quit in the Commodores squad Sunday, going on a 6-0 scoring run when down seven in the first set. However, the Gators defense held Vanderbilt to a 0% hitting clip in the set with 15 digs and four blocks for Florida.

The curse of the second set continues for the Gators. Losing 25-16, Florida has lost the second set in 12 of its 15 matches, going 6-6 when it does.

Florida nailed 16 aces and 20 service errors in the last two games, following a one-ace and 11-error clip against LSU last Sunday. Theis said not much changed to fix serving mid-game besides moving the rotation around slightly.

“Sometimes it’s just the anomaly of they serve their faces off for one game, and we struggle,” Theis said. “You never know exactly. We did spin the rotations a little bit to change things.”

Vanderbilt’s serving was powerful, delivering nine aces and seven errors from behind the line. The Commodores were led by outside hitter Maya Witherspoon in this category, as she recorded a career-high five aces and no service errors.

Outside hitter Jordyn Byrd once again led the Gators in kills, recording 13. She also tied her career-high three blocks. Middle blocker Jaela Auguste led with seven blocks, just one off of her career high. She followed Byrd in kills with nine.

The Gators have another quick turnaround, as they travel to Tennessee for a 7 p.m. first serve Wednesday.

Category: Gator Sports, Gators Volleyball, NCAA, SEC