Florida Volleyball Advances in NCAA Tournament
Florida volleyball is still dancing in the NCAA Tournament inside Moody Coliseum in Dallas on Friday after defeating Rice in straight sets, 27-25, 25-23,25-19, at the regional’s first round.
The unranked Gators (16-11), who improve to 28-0 all-time in the first round of the tournament, face the host SMU (26-5) at 8 p.m. ET today (ESPN+). The Mustangs, who advanced with a 3-0 win against Central Arkansas (18-12) in the site’s other first-round match Friday, are the No. 2 seed in the lower left region of the bracket and are ranked No. 7 in the newest AVCA national rankings.
Saturday winners advance to the third round of the NCAAs next week.
The win for first-year UF coach Ryan Theis did not come easy, as the Gators had to comeback in two of the three sets to win the match.
The jitters were noticeable for the young Gators. A lack of consistency on offense led to a game-low hitting percentage of .179. The Gators fell behind to Rice (21-10) by 10 points in the set, 20-10, but went on a 16-5 scoring run to fight back and come away with a 27-25 set win.
That did not stop them, but rather motivated them to give it their all.
“We did not want to lose, and we are going to push to the best of our ability,” Florida outside hitter Jordyn Byrd said.
With great stops at the net and masterpiece kills by Byrd, the Gators were able to complete the comeback and get the set win.
Looking to come out strong in the second set, the Gators took the lead 8-4. With the help of the Gators defense with four blocks and good offensive rhythm, UF was able to stay on top to take a commanding lead in the match at 2-0.
With the momentum on their side and a great performance in the match by Byrd and Aniya Madkin, who had 18 and 13 kills, respectively, the Gators closed out the match on a 9-1 run to sweep the Owls.
It was a milestone night for Alexis Stucky, as she reached 3,000 career assists, which ranks 9th overall in Gators program history.
“We said sure slow start, yeah that happened,” Theis said. “It’s just volleyball, let’s not let it consume us and these guys did a really good job after that setting in.”
Category: Gators Volleyball, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, Volleyball
