Gator Volleyball Ends Eight Game Road Challenge As Winners

The seventh ranked Florida volleyball team and coach Mary Wise ended their eight match road play strong with a win in a place that haven’t won in in six years, Florida State.

The now 7-1 Gators defeated the Seminoles 3-1 (27-25, 19-25, 25-22, 25-19) on Wednesday night in Tallahassee.

The first set was a challenging one where both teams showed they weren’t letting the other team take this set easily. Towards the end of the set, both teams were tied at 24-24. Florida State would end up adding on another point, only to be tied again when Gator Alex Holston pushed for a kill to tie it back up 25-25. It was Rhamat Alhassan who gave the Gators the next point when she slammed the ball down for a kill to make the score 26-25. The Gators would go on to win the first set 27-25 thanks to a miscommunication between the Noles that let the ball to drop between the players.

FSU dominated the beginning of the second set and went on a 5-0 run with Brianne Burkett serving. Alhassan added another kill to get the first point of the set for the Gators. The first lead for the Gators came after an error from the Seminoles to make it 7-6. Florida State would later tie the game back up at 15-15. Both teams would go back and forth a few points, before the Seminoles would take the second set 25-19.

The first point of the third set went to Florida State after Melanie Kiel put down a kill. The Noles would score one more point before Alhassan added on a kill of her own. Florida tied the game 2-2 with another kill from Alhassan and later FSU evened out the score at 6-6. After a few back-and-forth volleys, both Florida teams would find themselves tied again, 13-13. The Gators broke away with the lead this time and would take the set after a block by Rachael Kramer and Holston, 25-22.

The fourth set proved to be a Gator dominated one. Carli Snyder slammed down a kill early on in the set that allowed Florida to break away, 5-4. From there on, the Gators never looked back. Florida State would only get within three points of the Gators before the Gators widened the gap to take the set and match, 25-19.

Holston ended the night with 18.5 points, Alhassan with 18, Kramer with 13, and Snyder with 10.

With a long three weeks on the road behind them, the Gators finally have their first few home games of the season in the Lemerand Center this weekend. They’ll face off against FAMU and Jacksonville on Friday, and end the weekend with a match against Marshall.