The only thing louder than the Florida student section’s taunts every time a Miami setter got into position was the Gators' confidence against the Hurricanes on Wednesday night at the O’Connell Center.
The No. 10 Gators (5-1) clinched a clean 3-0 victory against the Miami Hurricanes (0-5) on Wednesday night’s ACC/SEC Showdown at the Net.
Taking the first set in just 30 minutes, Florida opened with absolute dominance. Junior opposite hitter Logan King recorded a season-high 11 kills in the match to fuel the Gators through the second set. But a hiccup after four errors in six points in the third filled the arena with nerves.
Assuring the team they’ll get opportunities, head coach Ryan Theis reminded them they needed to convert them into points at the end of the third set.
And the Gators did. After equalizing the third set at 21-21, they took five of the next four points to secure the win.
It seemed as though Florida could taste the win going into the third set, but after being unable to fight off match kill-leader Asia Harvey, the Gators dropped the lead at 10-9.
The setback wasn't enough to stop Florida as Jordyn Byrd made her second kill of the night to bring Florida to 20-17. From that point, the Gators took control back with two kills from Kamryn Chaney and one from King.
However, the Gators gained the most points from capitalizing off of Miami’s mistakes. After the Hurricanes committed five attack errors, Florida took the third set 25-22.
Throughout the match, one thing Florida struggled with was defense on the left side. King missed two balls on the left in the second set, while Alec Rothe and Parks each missed one.
But the Toronto native made up for it with an impressive performance at the net. King surpassed her season-high by one point, marking a new record for the transfer. The junior also protagonized the big points. To solidify the second-set win for the Gators at 25-19, she recorded a quick kill to the middle too difficult to return.
When most needed, Brooklyn Briscoe was also there to extend Florida’s success. At 22-17 in the second set, the middle blocker recorded a kill to take Florida closer to the second-set victory. Briscoe ended the match with the third-highest hitting percentage of the team, .417, surpassing her own season average that sits at .347.
The backbone of Florida’s kills, setter Taylor Parks tallied 34 assists, the most she’s recorded in this season’s three-set matches. The Clearwater, Florida, native’s efforts were crucial to securing the victory.
In the first set, the Gators recorded five aces and five blocks. Taking that momentum into the second, they found success in a different way. They recorded 17 kills, four aces and one block in the second set to prove they can win matches with different talents.
“I like the way they fight,” Theis said. “We can do some different things.”
The Gators sit at the No. 10 spot in the AVCA/TARAFLEX rankings, and against the Hurricanes, they showed why they climbed seven spots from their previous rank. Miami has yet to find a win this season.
Florida will remain in Gainesville for Friday’s match against another in-state rival in Florida Atlantic. First serve is set for 7 p.m. from the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
Contact Sofia Alamo at salamo@alligator.org. Follow her on X at @alamosofiaa.
Sofia Alamo is a sophomore sports journalism student in her fourth semester at The Alligator. She is the volleyball beat reporter. She enjoys spending time with family and watching sports with friends.
