Apparently, there really is no place like home.
Thursday night, in front of family and friends, Littleton, Colo. native Kristy Jaeckel put on a show.
Her team-high 15 kills helped lead No. 8 UF to a hard-earned 3-1 (25-22, 25-20, 22-25, 25-18) win at Colorado.
"What I love about that performance by Kristy is that she did it playing two positions," UF coach Mary Wise said.
The outside hitter also came up with three blocks playing middle blocker.
After cruising through the first two sets, the wheels came off for the Gators in the third.
The combination of a sputtering offensive attack and unforced errors allowed Colorado (6-2) to climb back into the match.
"We knew that when you play a team with that much experience it wasn't going to be easy," Wise said.
The Gators' (6-0) freshman duo of Jaeckel and Kelly Murphy caused problems for the Buffaloes all night. The pair combined for 27 kills.
Colorado Springs product Cindy Bathelt also played well in her return to the Centennial State, tallying 22 assists and a service ace on the night.
Alex Buth (16 kills) and setter Kaitlyn Burkett (43 assists) kept the Buffaloes alive for much of the match.
Burkett and Bathelt played together in high school as part of the Colorado Juniors Club Program.
Senior middle blocker Kelsey Bowers did not start for the Gators but did play despite speculation earlier this week that she could miss the game due to pain from a recurring back injury.
"We felt that if we could not play her the entire time that we could still get her healthy enough to play two matches in one weekend," Wise said.
The unsung hero of the night was Lauren Bledsoe. The sophomore was 8 for 9 attacking with a .889 hitting percentage and finished with a career-high seven blocks.
"This was Lauren's finest night as a Gator," Wise said.
With the win, Wise's 557th with the Gators, she is now 500 games over .500 for her career at UF.
The Gators improved to 3-0 all-time against the Buffaloes, who were off to the best start in school history (6-0) before dropping their last two matches.
UF will continue its Colorado road trip with a game against Colorado State on Saturday, when it makes the approximately one hour bus ride from Boulder to Fort Collins.
A radio broadcast contributed to this report