Behind a .350 hitting percentage, the 10th-ranked Florida Gators defeated the College of Charleston volleyball team 3-0 (30-22, 30-28, 30-14) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Gainesville, Fla.
The Cougars end their season with a 26-8 record, while Florida improves to 28-2.
“I'm very proud of the way the team came out and competed tonight. They executed the game plan in the first two games and we had a great opportunity to go into the break tied 1-1,” said head coach Jason Kepner. “Unfortunately, Florida made a great run at the end of the second game to take a 2-0 lead. We let game three get away from us but I am really proud of the way that the team fought until the very end.”
Charleston scored the opening point of the match before Florida answered with three unanswered points. The Cougars fought back to tie game one at four before a Gator attack error and a block by Tiffany Blum gave Charleston a 6-4 advantage. The teams knotted the score three more times before a kill by Cole Dawley put the Cougars in double-digits and a two point lead at 10-8. Florida used a 6-0 run to take a 16-11 lead before a Dawley kill ended the run. Charleston put together a four point run that was capped off with a kill by Deanna Patrick to bring the game within three at the 16-19 mark. With Florida holding a 23-18 lead, Charleston used its first timeout of the game. CofC earned the first two points following the timeout off of kills by Annie Uthe and Emily Sawin which made it a 20-23 game. The Gators answered with four points of their own which forced Charleston to call its second timeout at the 21-27 mark. The Gators took game one, 30-22, off a block by Kelsey Bowers and Angie McGinnis.
Charleston used a 5-0 run to take an early 6-2 lead that forced the Gators to call their first timeout of the match. Florida fought back within two at the 10-8 mark, but a kill by Uthe ended the Gator threat. The Gators narrowed Charleston's lead to one at the 18-17 mark that forced the Cougars to use a timeout. Florida tied the match at 19 off a kill by Lauren Bledsoe, but a kill by Uthe regained the lead for Charleston. The teams tied two more times before CofC scored three unanswered points that caused Florida to use its second timeout of the game with Charleston leading 25-22. A kill by Blum gave the Cougars a 26-22 advantage before a kill by Amber McCray ended the Cougar run. Two unanswered points by the Gators forced a second CofC timeout at the 26-24. Kristina Johnson notched a game-tying kill before Callie Rivers gave Florida its first lead of the game at 27-26. The Cougars answered with two points of their own to retake the lead at 28-27. A kill by Bowers tied the game at 28. The Gators went on to score the final two points to take game two 30-28 and a 2-0 match lead.
The teams traded points on the first six possessions of third game of the match. Florida mounted 7-3 lead which caused the College to use its first timeout of game three. The Gators used a 9-0 run to extend its lead to 12-3 before a kill by Whitney Russell ended the Florida attack. The teams traded points on the next six possessions before Florida mounted a 5-0 run to take a 19-6 lead and forced CofC to use its final timeout of the game. Charleston scored the next four points after the timeout to make it a 10-19 game. Florida put together a 7-0 run to extend its lead to 26-10 before a service error by the Gators gave the Cougars their 11th point. The Cougars scored three unanswered points to narrow the score to 13-26. Charleston would score just once more as the Gators took game three 30-14 and sealed the match, 3-0.
Patrick led the Cougars with eight kills, with Blum and Sawin adding seven each. Lindsey Kane notched 28 assists to pace the Cougar offensive attack. Megan Parkerson and Dawley recorded 13 digs each for the defense. Kane and Blum each earned three blocks in the effort.
Rivers earned a career-high 18 kills with McCray and Kisya Killingsworth recording double-digit kills on the evening earning 16 and 13, respectively. Four Gators earned three blocks in the win.
Florida will face Oklahoma Friday, Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. in the final match of the Gainesville sub-regional.
