As the ball came careening down from the rafter and Louisville’s outside hitter Amanda Green hit it, UF senior middle blocker Taelor Kellum stuffed it back to the other side, putting the Gators up by two in the fourth set and icing the match for her team.
The No. 4 Florida volleyball team (2-2) won 25-20, 23-25, 25-18, 25-22 over Louisville (4-1) on Saturday at the O’Connell Center. The Gators rode Kellum and other players in the front row in the scrappy win over the Cardinals.
“Last night…she was reacting to the play,” coach Mary Wise said of Kellum after Saturday’s match. “Tonight, she was a step ahead of the play.”
Kellum recorded a team-leading seven blocks to go along with her 10 kills on .833 hitting percentage. Wise also noted that the best part of the senior’s play was her zero errors on the attack.
In the first set, Kellum tallied four kills and started a 3-0 run that solidified the 25-20 win in that set. However, in the second set, Louisville began to make runs that the Gators could not handle.
Cardinals’ senior middle blocker Jasmine Bennett infuriated the Gators all match with her 13 kills and five blocks. In the second set, she logged six kills, including one on a controversial play that Wise tried to review but was not allowed, causing her to throw the review card into the stands out of frustration.
“I didn’t do a good job of articulating the play,” Wise said. “(The judges) made the right call.”
Nevertheless, Florida bounced back in the final two sets due to solid play from Kellum and right-side hitter Haley Warner, who had a clutch kill that won the third set for her team.
“Haley (Warner) is a gunslinger,” Wise said. “She hits a heavy ball, and she doesn’t hesitate to take rips.”
Warner’s clutch play continued into the fourth set when she crushed a big kill that generated a 7-2 run for the Gators that allowed them to take the lead and eventually win the deciding set 25-22.
Freshman outside hitter Thayer Hall vindicated her disappointing match on Friday against USC by leading her team with 14 kills and six digs on Saturday. The Spartanburg, South Carolina, native was given much more room at the net and took advantage of the holes that Louisville’s defense gave her.
Junior Rachael Kramer, on the other hand, did not have the same redemption match. The 6-foot-8 middle blocker only tallied three kills and made six attack errors less than 24 hours after she was held to just six kills against USC.
UF is expected to try and find new ways to involve her in the offense, but Gators will not have a lot of time for these adjustments as they face their third opponent in three days on Sunday.
Florida plays UCF at the O’Connell Center for the final match of the Bubly Invitational. First serve is set for 3:30 p.m.
Dylan Rudolph is a sports writer. Follow him on Twitter @dyrudolph and contact him at drudolph@alligator.org.
Outside hitter Thayer Hall posted a team-high 12 kills against Florida State to help the No. 11 Gators to a 3-1 win in Tallahassee Wednesday night.
