Alabama was scrapping and fighting to get into the national tournament.
With a win over the Gators, the Crimson Tide would have received a ticket to the big dance.
So what did the UF volleyball team do?
Well, they did what they always do.
UF showed no kindness to a team with its postseason life in the balance, defeating Alabama 3-0 (30-21, 30-25, 30-28) Friday night.
"We're not too worried about other people's feelings," senior outside hitter Marcie Hampton said.
Hampton did what she usually did and was a major reason for the Gators' success.
She tallied a match-high 19 kills, and also broke records in the process.
Hampton passed former UF players Jane Collymore and Aury Cruz on
the all-time UF attacks list when she attempted her 38th kill of the night.
"She's having a banner year," UF coach Mary Wise said. "These are All-American numbers."
Added Hampton:
"It's a weird one, because all I have to do is get set," Hampton said. "To pass (Collymore and Cruz) in anything - to pass them in checkers would be cool."
She also moved past Roni Armeda for third all-time in digs.
UF also extended its streak of consecutive 25-win seasons to 17, not-so-coincidentally coinciding with Wise's first year in Gainesville.
UF still has not lost a game since Oct. 19.
The match was a close one, with Alabama never wanting to give up.
It seemed the Crimson Tide got better with each game.The third game was tied 28-28, and UF called a timeout. After the timeout, Alabama had an attack error and senior opposite hitter Amber McCray sealed the match with a kill.
She also came off the bench in game two to hit the game-winning kill.
She wasn't seeing much action because of UF's large lead in game two, but when the Gators started falling apart, she knew she would get the call.
"I knew that when I did come back in, though, I need to just stay warm and everything so that if I did get set, I could get a kill," McCray said.
UF's four high school signees were also in attendance after being signed Thursday, and they got to see a show from the Gators.
