The disparity between the top two teams in the SEC and the rest of the conference was on full display Sunday afternoon.
Kentucky and Florida currently top the conference, with the Wildcats in control after sweeping the Gators in the season series.
Georgia came into its match against UF sitting at third place in the SEC standings with an 11-5 record and the 31st-best RPI in the country. The Bulldogs managed to take a set against the Gators in Gainesville in September, so a rematch in Athens, Georgia, seemed like it would be a good matchup.
But that was not the case on Sunday.
The No. 15 Gators swept the Bulldogs (25-13, 25-14, 25-13) with ease. Florida hit .513 in the match, its highest mark this season, and finished off Georgia in just an hour and 10 minutes.
Middle blocker Rachael Kramer was unstoppable against the Bulldogs (19-9, 11-6 SEC), scoring 14 kills on 20 attacks with no errors. Redshirt junior Holly Carlton was the only other Gator with double-digit kills — notching 10 on 15 attempts — and also didn’t commit any errors.
Errors were few and far between for Florida (23-4, 14-2 SEC). UF had only three errors in the entire match, and all of them came in the second set. On the other hand, Georgia had just seven more assists (23) than it had attack errors (16).
Of the four Florida attackers that notched at least 10 attacks, outside hitter Thayer Hall had the lowest hitting percentage, still at a respectable .300.
The Bulldogs didn’t register a single block against the Gators, who had 11 on Sunday.
Each of the three sets in the match largely played out the same way. The sweep featured Florida hitting at a high rate (its .367 hitting percentage in the second set was its lowest), suffocating Georgia defensively (the Bulldogs hit .120) and limiting mistakes.
The Gators’ best frame came in the third set when they hit an unfathomable .813 on 16 attacks with no errors. The defense tacked on three blocks as well.
UF led 9-7 in the frame before scoring 16 of the match’s last 22 points. The Gators improved to 48-4 in three-set matches against the Bulldogs and 66-9 in the all-time series.
“This was one of our most complete matches of the season,” coach Mary Wise in a release. “We had great focus and production from everyone — not just in the match, but with the preparation leading up to the match.”
Follow Brendan Farrell on Twitter @Bfarrell727. Contact him at bfarrell@alligator.org
Opposite attacker Holly Carlton was one of two UF players with double-digit kills, registering 10 in the win.
