Taylor Brauneis doesn’t mind dishing away the ball or the spotlight.
Instead, she prefers it, coach Mary Wise said.
The junior setter’s performance last weekend was key to the No. 11 Gators remaining undefeated in the Southeastern Conference. While Ziva Recek racked up her second conference award and her first SEC Offensive Player of the Week honor, Brauneis will continue to feed her teammates attention, as long as the wins keep coming.
“She’s not the high flashy setter,” Wise said. “She’s very much the steady, hard-working player that has no problem staying under the radar. She would be just fine out of the spotlight. Let it go to Chloe (Mann) or to Tangerine (Wiggs).”
In Sunday’s match against Kentucky, Florida fell two sets behind because of poor passing, Wise said. But she added that Brauneis was persistent in getting clean looks to Recek, Wiggs and Mann despite the “ugly volleyball” the other Gators were playing.
“Even when we weren’t passing well, Taylor Brauneis had a very, very good match,” Wise said. “She did an excellent job bettering the ball. When it wasn’t a three-option pass, she was still able to deliver a quality set.”
Coming into last weekend’s homestand against Arkansas and Kentucky, the transfer from Louisville led the SEC and ranked 20th nationally with 11.62 assists per set. She has led the team in assists every time she has taken the court for Florida.
Even after her near double-double on Sunday (47 assists and nine digs) helped propel Florida to its 10th straight win, Brauneis immediately passed the credit to her teammates and even the fans.
“We come in here and we’re smiling because the fans were in it and we were in it,” she said on Sunday. “It was a total team effort, and it just feels amazing.”
Wise said Brauneis helps her team with her knowledge of the sport — a major reason why she was named the squad’s floor captain. The floor captain communicates in-game strategies and acts as the go-between for players and officials.
“We did that because one, she is the one player who is on the court the whole time and two, because of her high IQ,” Wise said. “Look at the numbers. The hitting efficiency numbers have a lot to do with those hitters, but also a lot to do with Taylor Brauneis.”
Even as the conference’s top setter and the team leader on the court, Wise said Brauneis slips back into her quiet role off the court.
She prefers to let her play do the talking, leaving the other chatter to her louder teammates.
“She’s OK with taking a backseat to the more vocal, outgoing players in this program,” Wise said.
Junior setter Taylor Brauneis (8) celebrates with her teammates during Florida’s 3-0 win against Arkansas on Oct. 5 at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
