Before tonight’s match against Penn State, Florida volleyball coach Mary Wise said there would not be a whole lot of room for mistakes.
She was right.
After committing 15 service errors, No. 4 Florida (5-1) dropped its first match of the season, losing to No. 1 Penn State (7-0) by a score of 3-1 (25-20, 21-25, 14-25, 23-25).
“That was the disappointing thing,” Wise said. “After being up one set to zero and then not even giving ourselves a chance. We still believe we’re a work in progress.”
Cheered on by a crowd of 6,022, the fifth largest attendance in school history, the Gators had all the momentum in the first set as Penn State had five service errors compared to Florida’s four. The opening set of the match was the first one lost by Penn State this season.
After a close second set in which the Gators committed another four service errors, the Nittany Lions easily took the third after UF committed six more.
“I think just not being technical when we needed to,” Wise said. “When we made the serves in we weren’t exactly serving in the right areas. It’s an area we can get better in.”
At different times in the match, the crowd roared with excitement as it looked as though the Gators were gaining ground and getting ready to make a comeback. However, the Penn State leads were too much to overcome.
Leading the Gators with five service errors was junior Kelly Murphy. Murphy made up for her mistakes with her second triple-double of the season and 17th of her career after turning in 14 kills, 18 assists and 12 digs.
“The crowd stayed with us the whole time; they never gave up,” Murphy said. “It gave us the confidence to keep playing hard all the way to the end. It definitely raised our energy level.”
Penn State has now extended its win streak to an NCAA-record 109 straight matches.
“They don’t win 109 straight matches without having to go through gut-checks,” Wise said. “The poise that they can show especially from the older players, they are just so solid mentally that they can keep the pressure on you. I think the difference in the match came from behind the service line.”
The Gators will face No. 5 Texas (5-2) Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
“The All-Americans are all over this tournament and it’s another great challenge for us,” Wise said. “I do know this: Our team will compete no matter if you woke them at midnight. Our team will compete.”
