Florida Gators
12-4 (4-3)
Tennessee
17-5 (3-4)
No. 17 Gators Blank Vols in Mid-Week Action on Rocky Top
Thursday, October 15, 2015 | Volleyball
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The No. 17 Florida volleyball squad added its third straight conference win in 3-0 fashion (25-19, 25-11, 25-23) against the Tennessee Volunteers in front of an ESPNU audience Wednesday at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville.
While Florida (12-4, 4-3 SEC) took the first set 25-19, and convincingly claimed the second 25-11, the third and final stanza was a fun battle that went wire-to-wire between the Gators and Vols (17-5, 3-4 SEC). Trailing 20-18, the Gators used a time out to regroup and maintained composure to help close out the match. Senior setter Mackenzie Dagostino served four clutch points, while the Gators capitalized on a pair of Volunteer errors and two big swings from junior right side Alex Holston and senior Simone Antwi -- who smashed down match point -- for the 25-23 final.
Sophomore middle blocker Rhamat Alhassan posted 13 kills, turned in a .429 clip and posted two blocks, while senior outside hitter éiva Recek joined Alhassan in double-digit kills with 12 and a .455 hitting efficiency. Antwi quietly led all players on the court with a .500 clip following an eight-kill outing.
After a closely contested start to the first frame, the Gators were able to distance themselves after racking up six points under senior libero Nikki O'Rourke's serve for the 13-9 lead. After a back-and-forth battle for a deadlock at 16-all, the Gators closed the frame on a 9-3 run for the 25-19 first-set final. Florida dominated the second set, using a .667 clip via 20 kills on 30 errorless swings. O'Rourke had nine of her 14 digs in the second alone as the Orange and Blue cruised to a 25-11 victory and a 2-0 advantage in the match before closing things out in the third frame for the sweep.
Next up, Florida and Kentucky will re-match, this time in Wildcat territory in Lexington at Memorial Coliseum.
MARY'S MINUTE
“Lots of really good things both from an offensive standpoint and a defensive standpoint. To win 3-0 on the road in this league is a testament to our play tonight.”
BY THE NUMBERS
· 46 | Wins for Florida all-time against Tennessee, including a 42-7 edge under Florida head coach Mary Wise. With Wednesday's win, Florida is now 21-5 all-time in Knoxville
· 14 | Digs for senior libero Nikki O'Rourke, her eighth straight match with double-digit digs. O'Rourke had help from sophomore outside hitter Carli Snyder (8), senior outside hitter éiva Recek (7) to lead UF's passing efforts
· 12 | Players on the Gators' roster saw action against the Volunteers, including freshman Taelor Kellum, a Tennessee native, at the end of the first frame
· 13 | Kills for sophomore middle Rhamat Alhassan, who led all players on the court and was one of two Gators with double-digit kills as senior éiva Recek had 12
· 10 | Players with at least one dig in Wednesday's match at Tennessee, paced by O'Rourke's 14
· 4 | Sweeps for the Gators in SEC play with Wednesday's win in Knoxville. UF owns eight sweeps overall on the season
· .095 | UF has limited its opponents to a .200 efficiency or lower on eight different occasions, while the Vols were Florida's fourth SEC opponent under a .200 clip
UP NEXT
Florida will keep it on the road this week as the Orange and Blue will head to Lexington Sunday for a re-match with No. 20 Kentucky at Memorial Coliseum. First serve between the Gators and Wildcats is slated for 1 p.m. ET on SEC Network. As always, Gator Nation can additionally listen to Florida play-by-play Tom Collett on the airwaves on ESPN Gainesville (95.3 FM, 850 AM).
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