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<p>From left: Alex Holston, Shainah Joseph and Rhamat Alhassan wait for play to resume during Florida's 3-0 win over Mississippi State on Oct. 21, 2016, at the Lemerand Center.</p>

From left: Alex Holston, Shainah Joseph and Rhamat Alhassan wait for play to resume during Florida's 3-0 win over Mississippi State on Oct. 21, 2016, at the Lemerand Center.

This season might be different.

It’s hard to improve on 27-4, the team’s record in 2016, but the No. 3 Gators (4-0) could be on their way.

Florida downed No. 16 North Carolina 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-23) in Puerto Rico, fighting through a neck-and-neck third set to complete the sweep of North Carolina State and North Carolina in the SEC-ACC Challenge.

“Being able to win when things aren’t going well is a skill we love to have here at Florida, and one we didn’t necessarily have last year,” senior Caroline Knop said before the team left Gainesville.

Against North Carolina State yesterday, the Gators finished out a tight third set after taking a 2-0 lead.

Florida followed the same blueprint against the Tar Heels (0-4), pulling away with ease in sets one and two before rallying in the third.

Senior Shainah Joseph delivered her second match-point kill of the season, one of eight on the day. Sophomore Rachael Kramer added 10 kills with just two errors, and a .571 hitting percentage.

Senior Carli Snyder led all players with 11 kills, while redshirt junior Allie Monserez paced the Gators with 24 assists.

Knop (15) and freshman Paige Hammons (13) accounted for 28 of Florida’s 50 digs.

Collectively, the Gators held significant advantages in kills (44-28), hitting percentage (.270-.109) and digs (50-33).

Coach Mary Wise called the match a learning opportunity, saying “I think we’ll have the players’ attention in practice next week. We’ll have some growing pains.”

Florida improved to 7-0 against North Carolina under the leadership of Wise, and 12-1 all-time.

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The Gators have now defeated three ranked teams in four games. Conversely, North Carolina has suffered losses to No. 2 Minnesota, No. 6 Wisconsin and the No. 3 Gators to open the season.

Florida returns to action on Friday for the Active Ankle Challenge in Gainesville.

You can follow Andrew Huang on Twitter @AndrewJHuang, and contact him at ahuang@alligator.org.

From left: Alex Holston, Shainah Joseph and Rhamat Alhassan wait for play to resume during Florida's 3-0 win over Mississippi State on Oct. 21, 2016, at the Lemerand Center.

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