No. 17 Florida Volleyball Serves First Loss to No. 20 Baylor

The seats inside the Ferrell Center were filled with gold for Baylor’s “Gold Rush” match Saturday, but it was the Orange and Blue who came out on top.

No. 17 Florida swept No. 20 Baylor 25-13, 25-23, 25-19 in its first match in Waco, Texas, handing the previously undefeated Bears their first loss of the season.

The victory moved Florida to 3-1 and gave the Gators their second-ranked win of the season after defeating No. 11 Minnesota earlier in the week. It also came against a Baylor program (4-1) that entered Saturday 21-8 against ranked opponents at home since 2019.

Florida and Baylor have been no strangers to close matches. The Gators edged the Bears in five sets last season in Gainesville and entered the day holding a 3-2 advantage in the all-time series.

This time, Florida did not need five sets.

The Gators wasted no time taking control when they jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first set off three straight Baylor attacking errors. Florida stretched the margin to 19-8 and forced eight Baylor attack errors on the way to a 25-13 set win.

Kamryn Chaney and Logan King powered the offense with five kills apiece, while Taylor Parks tallied 11 assists and kept Baylor guessing with a mix of slides and back-row attacks. King and Alec Rothe also added two blocks each.

The second set was a different story.

Baylor settled in and traded points with Florida throughout the frame, even out-killing the Gators 11-10. Outside hitters Bailey Warren and Ksenia Rakhmanchik led the Bears with four kills each, but Baylor hurt itself at the service line with eight errors.

Florida had serving miscues of its own, finishing with 14 service errors, but the Gators’ aggressive approach also produced six aces on the match.

The Gators led the Set 2 at 15-12 before the Bears rallied to take a 20-19 lead. Chaney answered with back-to-back kills, and after the teams tied at 23-all, two consecutive Baylor attack errors handed Florida a 25-23 second-set win.

Florida regained control early in the third. Back-to-back Brooklyn Briscoe kills and a King ace helped Florida race out to a 9-3 lead, and the Gators carried that cushion through the rest of the set. Baylor made a late push, but Rothe closed the match with a kill for the 25-19 win.

Chaney finished with a match-high 12 kills while hitting .786. King added 10 kills on .500 hitting and Briscoe had seven kills at a .600 clip. Parks finished with 32 assists, while Lily Hayes led all players with 18 digs.

Florida hit .281 as a team and held Baylor to just .035, finishing with a 40-23 advantage in kills.

Those numbers came against a Baylor team that entered the match ranked second in the Big 12 in both kills (194) and digs (208).

The sweep gives Florida another statement win during a tough road stretch. The Gators have now beaten No. 11 Minnesota, pushed No. 5 Wisconsin to five sets and swept No. 20 Baylor on the road.

Florida carries that momentum into Sunday’s match when it stays in the Lone Star State to face North Texas (3-1) at 2 p.m. ET in Denton (ESPN+).

Category: Gator Sports, Gators Volleyball