Florida Eliminated by Tennessee in SEC Volleyball Tournament
Florida volleyball dropped a 3-1 quarterfinal match to Tennessee in the SEC Tournament (27-25, 25-27, 22-25, 19-25) on Sunday at Enmarket Arena in Savannah, Ga.
The five seed Gators (15-11) historically dominated this tournament when it was previously around, winning a conference-most 12 titles, including the last one in 2005. They made it past 12-seed Alabama in an easy sweep on Saturday to start their run, but in this redemption match for the four seed Volunteers (20-6), Florida saw its SEC Tournament hopes squashed in a close one.
The last time out between these two programs, the Gators upset then-No. 16 Tennessee in five sets in Knoxville on Oct. 15. This would have been the tie-breaking match if the Volunteers had not won out in the last weekend of the regular season to edge out the Florida. However, in that first meeting, the Gators did not see much action from Volunteers pin hitter Starr Williams, who was a huge contributor in this match and this season, putting up 14 kills this time around.
Limiting errors is a key to winning in NCAA volleyball, and it was once again a big contributor to this Gators loss. Florida hit at just a 17.9% hitting clip, recording 62 kills and 31 attack errors. In serving, the Gators put up 11 errors and three aces, including two aces from setter Alexis Stucky.
Coming into this match, all eyes were on the setters: Stucky (Florida) and Caroline Kerr (Tennessee). Both achieved double-doubles when they met in the regular season.
Stucky got bold quick on the offensive front, knowing Kerr is capable of attacking. However, Stucky had three errors and just one kill on 10 attempts. She was just short of a double-double, missing the mark by one dig after tying her career high of 56 assists. On the other side of the net, Kerr did record a double-double once again, contributing 43 assists and 10 digs.
Outside hitter Aniya Madkin stepped up in a big way toward the end of the first set, finishing with four kills on eight swings in the set. Florida gave up both the second and third sets despite holding leads in each. Tennessee held Gators outside hitter Jordyn Byrd to six kills between the two sets after an eight kill clip in the first. Madkin filled the role, recording 10 in the two.
Byrd and Madkin finished with 21 and 18 kills, respectively. Byrd hit just 17.5% with 11 errors. In blocking, Byrd put up four assisted and middle Alec Rothe led her team with six assisted.
Tennessee moves on to face the No.1-seed Kentucky Wildcats at 6 p.m. Monday in the tourney semifinals. No. 2 seed Texas A&M will play in Monday night’s other semifinal against the winner of the three seed Texas-14 seed Ole Miss match from Sunday night.
the Gators have to wait to hear their fate in the NCAA Tournament. The Division 1 selection show is on Nov. 30 when the 64-team bracket will be announced at 6 p.m. on ESPN.
Category: Gator Sports, Gators Volleyball, NCAA, SEC, Volleyball
