Florida Gators
Ohio
Volleyball Sweeps Ohio, Faces Stanford Saturday
Saturday, September 14, 2002 | Volleyball
Junior Aury Cruz (Levittown, Puerto Rico) returned to action in style Friday night, recording 11 kills and 15 digs en route to Florida's 3-0 (30-23, 30-17, 30-22) volleyball win over Ohio in front of 2,023 at the Campus USA Credit Union Invitational.
Florida (6-1) will now move on to play No. 1-ranked Stanford at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in the championship match of the tournament.
The last time Florida played a Mid-American Conference school was in 2000 when the Gators defeated Ball State 3-0.
Game One saw Florida and Ohio (6-1) trade points to begin the match, but with the score tied 5-5, the Gators went on a 6-1 run to take an 11-6 lead. With the Gators leading 21-14 later in the game, Ohio opened up a 5-1 run to close within three at 22-19. Florida quickly put up three points and took the first game 30-22.
In Game Two, Florida's 4-3 lead quickly became an 1-4 lead after a 7-1 run that included kills by Jacque Robinson (Merced, Calif.) and Nicole McCray (Longview, Texas) and a service ace from Benavia Jenkins (Fort Pierce, Fla.). McCray, Jenkins and Michelle Chatman (Woodridge, Ill.) each registered four kills in the game for a 30-17 win. In the final game of the match, the Gators tallied five service aces, including two from Lauren Moscovic (Stockton, Calif.) and won 30-22.
Under Wise, Florida is 10-0 against MAC opponents, and the Gators are 13-1 in school history vs. MAC teams. UF's eight service aces equals its season high, and the Gators' 52 digs are the most so far this season in three-game matches.
In the first match of the tournament, Stanford swept Houston 3-0 (30-21, 30-19, 30-17) to remain undefeated this season at 8-0. For the Cardinal, Ashley Ivy tallied a match-high 10 kills and recorded six service aces. Loure Dews led Houston with eight kills.
The Gators will face defending national champion Stanford Saturday at 3:30 p.m., while Houston plays Ohio at 1 p.m.
