The Gators’ side of the court at the Devaney Sports Center grew quiet as the team gathered in the middle for one last huddle, their faces as white as their jerseys. An attacking error by UF handed the No. 3 team in the nation a 12-10 lead in the deciding set.
No amount of time or would’ve helped the Gators though, as they dropped their first contest of the season against Texas Saturday evening in Lincoln, Nebraska.
The No. 7 Gators (1-1) went back-and-forth with the Longhorns (2-0) throughout the match, often going point for point. Looking back at the loss, there were three trends that were the most noticeable in the loss in the form of a compliment sandwich.
Too much reliance on Thayer Hall
Freshman Thayer Hall is good, but it shouldn’t be an expectation for her to carry her team the whole way through.
Hall logged 21 kills on 59 swings in the losing effort, one more kill than she had the night before against No. 2 Nebraska.
Hall’s counterpart, sophomore outside hitter Paige Hammons had nine kills on 28 swings.
Sophomore middle blocker Rachael Kramer finished the night with a flat zero hitting percentage, logging as many kills (eight) as she did errors.
It’s hard to have an efficient offense when you’re only putting out the points with one player. The lack of numbers for Hammons and Kramer goes to show that more often than not, the Gators strayed from their usual game plan against the Longhorns. They were forced to run plays on the left- and right-side pins as well as out of the back row.
This kind of setup didn’t allow the Gators to utilize their middle blockers as much as they’d like, effectively limiting their potent offense.
As the season continues, UF will need every part of its offense to be just as active as its pin hitting if it wants to win matches like Friday night’s against the Cornhuskers.
Changing up the shots
A good offensive player is able to identify holes and change things up so they aren’t predictable for the other team.
Redshirt sophomore Holly Carlton does a great job with changing up her shots at a moment’s notice. The 6-foot-7 left-handed attacker finished the match with 11 kills and a pair of errors.
Carlton, a transfer from North Carolina, found the holes in the Longhorns’ defense and exposed them to Florida’s benefit.
Often hitting from the right-side pin, Carlton directed a majority of her shots cross-court toward the right back corner, but also took advantage of a few line shots as well.
Carlton’s best play of the night came out of a trick play she ran with Kramer and Hall in the first set against the Longhorns.
She started her approach from the left side and swiftly moved into the middle front position as Kramer did the same moving from middle front to the right side of the court. Hall stayed at the left pin for a normal attack.
Texas’ blockers were confused as Carlton took a swing out of the middle and found a hole in the back court, scoring a crucial point for the Gators.
Carlton wasn’t alone with changing up her hits. Hall did the same, often switching between a hard cross court shot and a deep line shot, but in the end it wasn’t enough.
Running plays like this and finding holes like Carlton and Hall did will be a huge asset for the team moving forward.
Errors, and lots of them
In Friday night’s contest against the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Florida committed 10 service errors.
Against the Longhorns, the team only missed seven. But it was still seven too many.
Keeping serves in play is one of the ways a team maintains control through a match. Another way is keeping hits inside the court and making smart choices on offensive attacks.
Errors are inevitable, but it’s important to keep them at a minimum, especially when facing a highly ranked team that will take advantage of any leeway.
In Saturday night’s matchup against the Longhorns, the Gators had 34 errors and 63 kills on 171 swings, meaning the team automatically gave away 34 points just off missed hits. Florida ended the match with four consecutive attacking errors to give Texas the win.
UF returns to Gainesville for its first home contest of the season against No. 10 Southern California Friday night at 7 in the O’Connell Center.
You can follow Mari Faiello on Twitter @faiello_mari and contact her at mfaiello@alligator.org.
Middle blocker Rachael Kramer struggled in UF's loss to No. 3 Texas. She registered as many errors (8) as kills on 20 swings.
