In the first set, the home crowd erupted with each point as the Gators and Longhorns went swing for swing, tying far past the usual 25-point threshold. But eventually, one team had to win.
Alexis Stucky was the deciding factor when she perfectly timed her block with the incoming kill, sending the ball back where it came from and winning the first set 31-29. However, the match was far from over.
The Gators (13-9, 8-5 SEC) were defeated by No. 4 Texas (19-2, 11-2 SEC) in four sets despite an electric start in the Exactech Arena in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center on Friday night.
In the first set, the Gators were hot and at one time eight points ahead. But just as Florida created the gap, Texas closed it. The Longhorns rode that momentum the rest of the night.
Florida’s sophomore middle blocker Jaela Auguste had 14 kills and four blocks on the night. In one rally in the third
Senior middle blocker Amaya Thomas showed out on her senior night, finishing with three blocks and an impressive .800 hitting percentage on four kills.
Head coach Ryan Theis made some adjustments during the game, like putting sophomore middle blocker Alec Rothe at right side and subbing in sophomore setter Taylor Parks in for senior setter Alexis Stucky in the third set.
An achilles heel for Florida was running out of challenges in the third and fourth sets. The team missed out on point opportunities at crucial moments where the call was up in the air and challenges could have been called.
At one point in the third set after Texas won a point off of an out-of-bounds call, Jeala Auguste turned to Theis asking for him to challenge. But, Florida had used them all up in the earlier sets.
“There’s a fine line of calling a challenge for your team,” he said. “In both situations we were down and I thought it might be an effective way to challenge for them, but it cost us a little bit. I wish we would’ve had one left at the end.”
For Texas, the outside hitter duo consisting of freshman Cari Spears and junior Torrey Stafford were a force to be reckoned with throughout the night. Stafford, who ranks No. 26 nationally in kills per set, finished the night with 21 kills, two blocks and eight digs. Spears ended with 13 kills, two blocks and three digs.
In spite of the rocket start, errors are what plagued the Gators, from missed serves, attacks and blocks Florida had double the errors Texas had, 30-15).
“We were scoring with them which isn’t easy to do,” Theis said. “It’s just our inefficiencies continue to be an issue and some of that is experience and age for sure.”
Despite dropping the first set, the Longhorns sailed through the next three. In the end, Stafford put the game to rest with a service ace, ending the match 25-19.
The Gators look ahead to their next home match against No. Texas A&M (20-3, 12-1 SEC) at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
“We’ll watch things that didn’t work in this particular lineup, we'll see what lineup works best against A&M,” said Theis.
Contact Isis Snow at isnow@alligator.org. Follow her on X @isis_snoww.
Isis is a junior sports journalism student and is the volleyball beat reporter for fall 2025. This is her third semester with The Alligator. She enjoys reading, playing basketball and weight lifting in her free time.
