It’s Miami at Florida Volleyball for ACC-SEC Challenge
By Reagan Bresnahan
No. 10 Florida volleyball looks to extend Miami’s losing streak to five Wednesday at 8 p.m. at the “Showdown at the Net” ACC-SEC Challenge in the O’Connell Center.
The Gators (4-1), who are 3-0 all-time against the Hurricanes (0-4), are coming off a 3-1 road trip last week when they picked up wins against ranked teams Minnesota and Baylor.
Florida is attempt to lock down execution during long rallies and closing out tight sets that will prevent any window for an upset from Miami.
The Gators biggest strengths are their suffocating defense and aggressive serves. Florida reached the 12-block mark in three of its first five matches and scored 11 service aces in its victory against Minnesota in the Big Ten/SEC Challenge last week in Madison, Wis. The Gators aggressive serving, ironically, is one of their biggest challenges. Florida totaled 17 service errors in their loss against Wisconsin.
Some bright spots include outside hitter Kamryn Chaney, who had a match-high 12 kills while hitting 0.786 against Baylor and dropped a monster 22 kills and 25 points in the Gators’ loss to Wisconsin.
Newcomer Selena Laban is also expected to bring the heat. In the win against Minnesota, she led the Gators with 25.5 points. She posted 20 kills on a .326 hitting percentage, matching her career best.
Despite being the major offensive threat in Florida’s win against Minnesota, Laban tallied seven serving errors alone. The Gators are looking to cut down the mistakes in their match against Miami.
Miami started the season just outside the top 25 and received votes in the AVCA Preseason Poll before the four losses tanked its stock. The Hurricanes are coming off one of their best seasons in school history where they went 25-5 (15-3 ACC), reached the second round of the NCAA tournament and finished No. 25 in the AVCA Coaches Poll.
With massive changes to the roster and coaching staff, this season has proven to be a trial by fire for Miami. The Hurricanes lost nine players from last year’s squad, gutting the core group that carried them to the NCAA tournament.
The most notable loss was All-American outside hitter Flormarie Heredia Colón and the team’s next top-three kill leaders from 2025. Aside from star setter Ariana Rodriguez, almost every single spot in the starting lineup was left open heading into the season.
Over the summer, the program hired two new assistant coaches and added a new director of operations. The massive identity change is proving to be a challenge.
Thanks to the home-court advantage and superior roster depth, the Gators are the clear favorites on the night.
Miami will struggle to get past the Gators’ suffocating defense. Florida has already held three opponents under a 0.100 hitting percentage this season. Preseason All-SEC junior middle blocker Alec Rothe is coming off a career-high 11 blocks against Wisconsin.
But despite their powerful defense, the Gators should still keep an eye on Preseason All-ACC setter Ariana Rodriguez, who averages 10.50 assists per set.
For the Gators, the matchup also offers a chance to fix the mistakes that surfaced against Wisconsin without the same stakes of a top-five matchup.
Coverage tonight starts at 7:45 p.m. on 98.1-FM and at 8 p.m. on the SEC Network.
Category: Gators Volleyball, Volleyball
