Although it may seem as if Florida was run out of the gym by then-No. 1 Penn State on Sunday, there were enough positives to leave the Gators optimistic moving forward.
“We talked to the team about the great experience for us to play such a good Penn State team,” coach Mary Wise said.
“The separator was the serving-passing battle … The beauty of volleyball is that these are just matches that help us for the long run.”
The No. 5 Gators pulled off an upset of then-No. 2 Stanford on Saturday in four sets (28–26, 25–17, 18-25, 25–22).
Unfortunately for Florida, that effored was followed by a sweep at the hands of Penn State (25-18, 25-17, 25–20).
Playing against the top-two teams in the nation displayed weapons that will be instrumental for the Gators during the rest of the season.
The biggest factor in each of the two weekend matches was Simone Antwi.
Antwi, a middle blocker, led the team against Stanford with a .706 hitting percentage on 13 kills.
But the sophomore notched only five kills on a .133 hitting percentage against Penn State on Sunday.
“Simone Antwi really had a breakout on Saturday,” Wise said. “Her best match by far as a Gator.”
Having Antwi as a fourth option behind senior middle blocker Chloe Mann, sophomore outside hitter Ziva Recek and freshman right-side hitter Alex Holston could elevate Florida to the next level.
At 6-foot-2, Antwi is tied with Mann and sophomore outside hitter Gabby Mallette as the tallest player on the Gators — a trait that is important for UF’s style of play.
Her height may be the determining factor in her role as the season progresses as sophomore Noami Santos-Lamb continues to rehab from an ACL injury that sidelined her for the entire 2012 season.
The theme of the season moving forward will be how the Gators develop a successful formula with all of the new talent on the roster.
“The win on Saturday does not define the weekend, nor does the loss on Sunday,” Wise said.
“What defines the weekend is what we learned from it and how much better we are moving from this point forward.”
UF will get another home weekend tournament, the Active Ankle Challenge, to refine some of its weaknesses that were displayed against Penn State.
Florida’s first match is against Georgetown on Friday at 7 p.m. in the O’Connell Center.
Follow RJ Schaffer on Twitter @rjschaffer.
Simone Antwi jumps for the ball during Florida’s 3-0 victory against New Orleans on Aug. 30 in the O’Connell Center. UF is 5-1 this season.
