Florida Volleyball Sweeps Stony Brook in Season Opener
Gator fans lined up early outside the Stephen O’Connell Center to catch their first look Sunday at the 2026 Florida volleyball team.
No. 17 Florida swept Stony Brook 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-20) to mark the program’s seventh-consecutive home opening win. The Gators are now 33-3 in home openers dating to the 1991 season.
The Seawolves (1-3) opened with an ace by Rayanne Wheat, but the Gators did not look back after that. The 1-0 start was the only lead Stony Brook held throughout the first two sets.
Florida dominated the net early with middle nlockers Alec Rothe and Brooklyn Briscoe combining for six kills and seven blocks. Their presence forced the Seawolves into committing nine attacking errors through the opening set.
However Florida’s own errors kept the Seawolves close, as it totaled four attacking and two service errors.
The Gators led 18-15 late in the set and then went on a 7-1 run off the serves of Lily Hayes and Logan King to finish off the set.
“I liked our block in the first,” Florida coach Ryan Theis said. “Credit to Stony Brook for changing speeds and angles after that to make us produce kills as opposed to just getting free points on blocks. I thought, at times, we served it pretty well … so there was some good stuff.”
Stony Brook opened their campaign going 1-2 at the Black and Gold Classic in Orlando. The Seawolves managed to best Robert Morris 3-2 in the opening round of the tournament Friday, before being swept by NC State and UCF on back-to-back days.
Outside hitters Ella Sanders and Quinn Anderson were Stony Brook’s go-to hitters in Sunday’s match with team-highs eight and six kills on .129 and .105 hitting percentages, respectively.
In the second set, UF setter Taylor Parks commanded the offense with eight assists and three aces. The score was tied 19-19 before the Gators broke away late off her serving run to finish the set.
Parks totaled 26 assists and caught the Seawolves off guard with three kills through the use of a few setter dumps.
“She had a pretty good game,” Theis said. “She found middles in some pretty good spots, I don’t think she missed many.”
The third set proved to be Florida’s toughest of the afternoon. The Gators built a 15-10 advantage, but Stony Brook responded with five consecutive points to tie the set and force a Florida timeout.
Florida outside hitter Selena Leban recorded seven kills in the final frame, including two during the closing stretch, while Aniya Madkin added three late kills when the Gators won nine of the final 12 points. Florida closed out the set 25-20 on a Stony Brook attacking error to complete the sweep.
Leban finished as Florida’s kill leader with nine, while adding three digs and two assists.
“At one point she went 5-for-5 before she hit one just out,” Theis said. “When she gets rolling, and in the flow, it’s fun to watch.”
Florida turns its attention to SEC/Big Ten Challenge matches in Madison, Wi., starting with Minnesota at 9 p.m. ET Tuesday and Wisconsin at 8 p.m. Wednesday.
Category: Feature Sports News, Gator Sports, Gators Volleyball
