The O’Connell Center stood on the tips of its collective toes as freshman Lauren Dooley took her approach toward a set from Allie Monserez.
With a 24-16 lead in the fourth set, she brought back her right arm — almost as if she was shooting an arrow — and released into the ball in a quick motion.
The maneuver was too quick for UCF’s defense to pick up on Sunday afternoon as Dooley’s kill sealed Florida’s second win of the weekend during its first home tournament.
A sea of orange and blue jerseys flooded the court, and wild screams rang throughout the O’Dome.
It’s that same spark of energy that Florida will need coming into this weekend’s matches in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Here are three things we learned from watching the No. 8 Gators (3-2) compete:
Florida is doing well at earning its own points
Unlike many other sports, a volleyball team can scored points off of their opponents’ mistakes.
Over the weekend, Florida did a decent job of limiting their opponents and scoring their own points, which ended in a 2-1 record.
In Sunday’s matchup against UCF, the Gators scored 76 points off of kills, blocks and service aces while only gaining about 31 points off of the Knights’ errors (missed serves, attack errors, etc.).
Florida scored about 68 points in Saturday’s matchup against Southern California. Only about 24 came off of Trojan errors.
Florida maintained a strong advantage in not relying on their opponent to up their own score. Producing its own chances will be important moving into tougher competition.
Substitutions are key
Sophomore Macy Phillips has the kind of arm that could turn into a huge weapon against any team moving deeper into the season.
The 5-foot-7 defensive specialist demonstrated her lethality on the back line last weekend.
Her serves found the floor three times before a USC player found a way to keep the play going.
Phillips’ weakness, however, is her inconsistency. Despite her three aces throughout the weekend, she logged seven service errors.
“Macy certainly brings a big gun,” coach Mary Wise said on Friday after Florida’s loss to Southern California. “The key is, can she limit her errors… but she has really worked on that.”
Other players like freshman right-side hitter Haley Warner had their spotlight moments as well.
Warner tallied 13 kills for the weekend, six of them coming from the Gators’ matchup against Louisville.
Having a 17-player roster will help extend playing ability for the long season ahead.
Establishing strong connections between the middle blockers and setters
It’s hard to establish quick connections on the court, especially during tough rallies.
This is a pivotal aspect of why a middle blocker can be such a dominating force in a match.
Junior Rachael Kramer, a 6-foot-8 attacker, has been working on her connections with redshirt senior setter Allie Monserez for three years.
Kramer has had a little over four months to establish that kind of connection with freshman setter Allie Monserez.
Using two setters and six hitters for an offense can have a lot of benefits. But running one where a hitter can attack the same way off of two different setters is a bit more complex.
Part of keeping that establishment secure is taking advantage of the situation when rallies are in-system, meaning the setter has three options for an offensive attack.
Keeping the middle blockers as involved as possible throughout the match can make a tremendous difference in scoring key points.
You can follow Mari Faiello on Twitter @faiello_mari or contact her at mfaiello@alligator.org.
Right side hitter/setter Holly Carlton and middle blocker Rachael Kramer extend for a block during UF's 3-1 loss to Southern California Friday.
