Florida Volleyball’s Kennedy Martin Ties Record In Win Against Tennessee

Kennedy Martin is now tied with Aury Cruz for all-time Florida volleyball program kills after securing 31 in Friday night’s 3-1 win against Tennessee.

Cruz, the four-time AVCA All-American, set the career high with 31 kills on Dec. 8, 2001. Almost 23 years later, Cruz now shares that title with Kennedy Martin, who also recorded the most kills in a four-set match and broke her career-high of 28 kills.

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Martin’s 31st kill was also the one to end the game, securing the No. 24 Gators’ 25-27, 25-23, 25-16, 25-20 win.

How It Happened

Florida’s third consecutive conference win puts the Gators at 14-5 overall and 5-3 in the SEC.

Set 1:

The Gators came out strong in Set 1 against the Vols (10-8, 3-5)  with Isabel Martin putting the first point on the board with a kill. An ace by Tennessee put Florida behind 6-3, but it was able to stop Tennessee’s three-point scoring run with a kill from AC Fitzpatrick.

The Gators trailed 15-12 heading into the media timeout and even after doing their best to close the point gap, Tennessee climbed to a 17-13 lead. However, thanks to Kennedy Martin, Florida was able to inch its way back to tie Tennessee at 20-20. Despite UF’s aggressive play and hard fight, the Vols took the first set 27-25.

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Set 2:

The beginning points of the set were a back-and-forth battle. Despite a block from Fitzpatrick and Alec Rothe to put the Gators trailing by one at 10-9, Tennessee stepped up and went on a 4-0 scoring run, forcing Florida to call a timeout.

A kill by Isabel Martin put the score at 18-15, giving the Gators the push they needed. Her kill was then followed by a block from Amaya Thomas, back to back kills from Kennedy Martin and more kills by Jaela Auguste and Fitzpatrick.

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Kennedy Martin closed the set out 25-23 with her 15th kill of the night.

Set 3:

Tennessee racked up three service errors within the first seven points of the set. Then, with no mercy shown, Kennedy Martin and Auguste both slammed balls down onto the opposing side, making the Vols take their first timeout of the set at 6-3. Tennessee never recovered for the rest of the set.

More kills by Kennedy Martin and back-to-back kills by Isabel Martin brought Florida to a 10-5 lead.

The Gators did not let the lead go. Kennedy and Isabel Martin’s kills provided the team momentum and energy for the duration of the set.

Another set of back-to-back kills by Kennedy Martin and a block by Rothe pushed UF to set point at 24-15. A kill from Auguste closed out the set at 25-16.

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Florida totaled 17 kills in the set, seven belonged to K. Martin.

The Final Set:

After a few exchanges of points at the beginning of the set, Tennessee was able to take a brief lead until an ace by Emerson Hoyle tied the score at 7.

Following Hoyle’s ace were two back-to-back kills by Amaya Thomas and an ace by Isabel Martin, who forced Tennessee to take a timeout. The Gators continued to carry the momentum by playing aggressively and with lots of energy.

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A block by Isabel Martin and Thomas brought Florida a 17-16 lead and forced the Vols to use their final timeout. Unfortunately for Tennessee, that huddle did not do much, as the Gators continued to shut down efforts with kills by Isabel and Kennedy Martin and another double-block by Isabel Martin and Thomas.

Kennedy Martin not only tied the all-time career high of kills on the final point of the match to seal Florida’s set win 25-20, she also broke her career high of 28 kills when the Gators were up 22-19. If Martin had landed one more kill, she would have broke the all-time career high record.

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Mention-ables

Florida set five four-set match highs:

• Points: 79
• Hitting Percentage: .444
• Kills: 68
• Attempts: 128
• Assists: 65

Three Gators set or tied a season high:

• Isabel Martin: 3 assists
• Kennedy Martin: 8 digs | 32.5 points
• Taylor Parks: 4 kills (Tied)

Both Kennedy Martin and Isabel Martin finished with double-digit kills (31 and 14 respectively).

Up Next

The Gators will play at Arkansas (14-5, 4-3) at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday and the match can be streamed on the SEC Network.