Looking to chase the Wildcats out of its home territory with a victory, then-No. 7 Florida conquered then-No. 3 Kentucky in five sets Sunday night.
The Gators (12-1, 3-0 SEC) knew the feat would be difficult, but that failed to discourage them. Kentucky (11-3, 3-1 SEC) fell to Florida for the first time since 2022, and the Gators are now riding the high of a 10-match win streak.
With the win, Florida jumped two places to No. 5 in the AVCA rankings, while Kentucky fell to No. 4.
Collectively, Florida is a beast, with the team coming out of the match with 72 total digs. But the same can be said for the players when examined individually.
Junior outside hitter Selena Leban logged a team-high 21 digs in Sunday’s exchange, complementing her five kills and three assists.
Senior outside hitter Kamryn Chaney also stepped up, producing a season-high 22 kills and registering 23 total points. Junior opposite hitter Logan King tallied 10 digs, eight kills, four assists and a career-high seven blocks, earning her SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Week honors for the second time this season.
Additionally, junior setter Taylor Parks had a memorable night of her own. The Clearwater native tallied 43 assists and set season-highs in points (10), kills (six) and total blocks (three).
Florida’s success also rallied behind their first line of defense with junior middle blocker Alec Rothe and senior middle blocker Brooklyn Briscoe anchoring the net. Each posted eight kills in the win. Moreover, Briscoe logged seven blocks, and Rothe had five, with the pair combining for 12 of Florida’s 15 blocks.
If anything were to hold the Gators back from clinching a win, it would’ve been the mistakes made behind the service line. Florida gave up 15 points due to service errors.
Against Tennessee, they only gave up five, averaging less than two service errors per set.
Despite that imperfection on Sunday, the Gators were able to pull through and break Kentucky’s 29-match regular-season winning streak against SEC opponents.
Florida will look to make some magic again, this time on the road against Missouri (8-7, 1-2 SEC) on Friday. First serve is set for 8 p.m. ET at the Hearnes Center in Columbia, Missouri.
Contact Nicole Scura at nscura@alligator.org. Follow her on X @NicoleScuraa.
Nicole Scura is a junior journalism student in her third semester at The Alligator. She is currently a volleyball beat reporter and previously served as hockey beat and enterprise reporters. In her free time she enjoys figure skating, traveling and watching football (Go Bucs!).
