You can’t hit through it.
You can only hope to hit over or around it.
Constructed with outstretched arms and firm palms, Florida volleyball’s wall of blockers was dynamic Sunday, just as it has been all season.
The Gators’ blockade turned in a season-high 17 blocks in the 3-1 win over Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky.
The last time UF had more total team blocks came on Oct. 12, 2007, when Florida put up 17.5 against Arkansas.
Coach Mary Wise knew the performance was special.
"It was really the defense that carried us," she said. "Seventeen blocks in four sets against a very good offensive team speaks volumes to our team’s serving and our blocking."
Behind UF’s barrage of blocks was sophomore middle blocker Rhamat Alhassan. The Glenarden, Maryland, native tallied 10 blocks alone.
But those numbers are expected from her.
Alhassan, who has led the nation in blocking for a majority of the season, still sits atop those rankings with 1.92 blocks per set and has anchored Florida’s 3.06 team blocks per set.
What’s even more impressive is how much better she is from last year.
Alhassan had 79 stuffs through her first 17 games in her freshman season last year. The 6-foot-4 middle blocker has 121 blocks through her first 17 games this season.
And it’s not just Alhassan carrying the load.
Senior setter Mackenzie Dagostino has helped fortify the backbone of the blocking unit.
Dagostino has already racked up 53 block assists this year, one shy of her 54 all of last season.
For the Tampa native, it’s all about the mindset.
"It’s just a ‘I’m not gonna let you hit past me anymore’ mentality," she said after UF’s 3-0 win over Auburn Oct. 11. "We’re gonna try and stop every single thing you do."
Florida dropped its first Southeastern Conference match this season to Kentucky on Sept. 27, but Wise said she and her team never talked about revenge.
Instead, they went back to the drawing board.
Wise said associate coach Dave Boos put together a game plan based on how the Wildcats beat them.
"This is what they did to find kills, (and) this is how we weren’t able to find kills the first time we played them," Wise said.
"Then the work we put in over the next month, if we do this we’ll see good results, and that’s what happened."
In the end, Florida’s elite-level blocking prevailed and helped serve Kentucky its first SEC loss of the season on Sunday.
With four straight wins, the Gators have slowly climbed their way up the conference rankings and now sit fourth behind Texas A&M with a 5-3 SEC record.
Florida now prepares for two matches this weekend against opponents who it has already lost to this season — Arkansas and Missouri.
"We’ve either played on the road or played a ranked team every single weekend so far," Wise said.
"You gotta have your A-game in the SEC."
But as her squad picks up steam, Wise has been satisfied.
With a confident smile, Wise needed three words to sum up her team’s play: "We’re feeling it."
Follow Patrick Pinak on Twitter @Pinakk12
UF setter Mackenzie Dagostino (6) and middle blocker Rhamat Alhassan (1) jump for a block during Florida's 3-1 win on Sept. 20, 2015, in the O'Connell Center.
