The University of Florida volleyball team unites after a victory at the O’Connell Center. [Caleb Ross/WRUF]

Gators Volleyball Swept By Gamecocks

Jada Ross October 13, 2024 Feature Sports News, Gators Sports, Gators Volleyball, NCAA, Volleyball 126 Views

The No. 19 Gators volleyball team was swept (25-23, 25-14, 25-18) in a painful match against the South Carolina Gamecocks.

Sunday’s match was the last of four consecutive home games.

UF was coming off a 3-1 win against Mississippi State on Friday night, but reverted to the timid team we saw last Sunday against the Texas Longhorns. Florida falls to 11-5, 2-3 SEC and the Gamecocks are 10-5, 1-3.

Distress On Defense

The Gamecocks kept the Gators under 20 in the last two sets. South Carolina played cohesively and quickly in all three sets, but by the second set, Florida looked tired and couldn’t keep up.

Libero Elli McKissock led the back row with 17 digs in the match. Alexis Stucky totaled eight, while Kennedy Martin finished with five, both Isabel Martin and Emily Canaan had three and AC Fitzpatrick and Taylor Parks had two and one digs, respectively.

The Gators struggled to communicate in the back row, especially in the second and third sets, leading to many unreceivable passes and dropped balls. Throughout the match, the defense struggled to pick up the tips and short balls South Carolina delivered. 

 

In Set 2, the Gamecocks had a 9-5 lead. Poor communication in the back row and a 4-0 scoring run by South Carolina forced Florida into its first timeout of the set. Even out of the timeout, the Gators couldn’t quite find rhythm, making it difficult to make big plays. 

In Set 3, Florida let South Carolina go on another four -point scoring run, which the Gators couldn’t stop until after a timeout and a dump by Stucky. 

Service Line Struggles

Another issue the Gators faced was their inability to be aggressive at the service line. Florida made far too many service errors without having enough aces or scoring runs. 

The Gators made five service errors in Set 1, while South Carolina made zero. In Set 2, the Gamecocks remained with zero errors at the service line, while UF added one to the board.

In the final set, Florida racked up three more to total nine service errors for the match. In contrast, South Carolina only added two for the final set and the match.

 

Stucky and Alec Rothe were the only Florida players to register an ace, while the Gamecocks totaled five aces throughout the match. 

Finding A Way

Despite a challenging day, several players still found ways to shine and make plays.

For net play, the Gators out-blocked South Carolina’s 7.0 team blocks with 8.0 for themselves. Rothe had two blocks and had three block assists. Stucky also got a block and four block assists. Jaela Auguste added two and Fitzpatrick one.

 

To no surprise, All-American hitter Kennedy Martin continued to shine. She was fierce against South Carolina’s big block and led the Gators with 17 kills. In Set 3, Kennedy Martin recorded her first point on the board for Florida, and the kill marked her 10th of the match. She also continued her streak of recording double-digit kills in every game she has played with Florida.

 

For Florida’s other big hitters, they contributed to the remaining 23 kills posted. Isabel Martin finished with seven kills, Rothe and Stucky with four, Auguste and Fitzpatrick tallying three, and Amaya Thomas topped it off with two. 

Though the Gators did lead in blocking, Florida struggled to hit around South Carolina’s wall and not get dug back up, which contributed to low-hitting numbers for many of Florida’s typically heavy hitters.

Stucky, the All-American setter, was another big point-winner for the Gators, contributing 30 assists. She barely finished short of her second double-double with just eight digs. Stucky is now ranked 14th for career assists in program history, totaling 1,734. 

Up Next

The Gators are on the road for their next two matches. First, they will head to College Station, Texas, to play Texas A&M on Friday at 7 p.m. ET (SECN). Then they will stop in Baton Rouge, La., to play LSU on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET (ESPN2).

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