UF volleyball coach Mary Wise talks to the players after they won a game against the University of Buffalo at the O'Connell Center on Sept. 22. [Diego Perdomo/WRUF]

Stanford Eliminates Florida Volleyball From NCAA Tournament

WRUF Staff December 13, 2024 Feature Sports News, Gators Volleyball, NCAA Tournament 207 Views

The six seed Florida Gators volleyball team battled two seed Stanford, but couldn’t hold off the Cardinal in losing 3-1 (26-24, 17-25, 24-26, 27-29) Thursday night at the NCAA Louisville Region semifinal in Freedom Hall in Louisville, Ky.

“Stanford is a tough matchup for a lot of teams, particularly our team with their size and their athleticism,” UF coach Mary Wise said. “Yet there we were, toe to toe with a swing to go to five sets. Truly was one of the most remarkable … People will look at the scores and say ‘Sure Stanford won’, but they will have no idea the guts this group showed up with and played with tonight.

“Congratulations to Stanford. That was a heck of a match. I could not be more proud of this team, this group of seniors here, and the ones still in the locker room. The adversity we have dealt with this year is like no other. We said going in that we haven’t had a single match where we had everyone healthy enough to play and we got even thinner tonight, and yet they battled. This group is just amazing.”

The Gators (23-8), ranked No. 22 nationally, were led by sophomore opposite Kennedy Martin, who had 21 kills on .320 hitting, six digs and five blocks. Martin recorded her 1,000 career kill during the fourth set, becoming the fastest Gator to reach the milestone in just 53 matches. Former UF standout Aury Cruz’s 67 matches previously held the honor.

The Cardinal (28-4) are now 4-1 against Florida in the NCAA Tournament, and 10-6 against the Gators overall. Stanford, No. 5 in the nation, had five players register double-digit kills as it hit .288 for the match.

Stanford will face region top seed Louisville (28-5), which swept four seed Purdue in the night’s other semifinal, in the regional final Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET for a berth in the final four.

In her final match at Florida, Elli McKissock surpassed Elyse Cusack’s 2,138 career digs to become the program’s all-time leader with 2,147. McKissock served as the Gators’ starting libero for 122-consecutive matches. Her 144 career aces ranks eighth in the program, while being 21st for career assists with 544.

Jaela Auguste was the second Gator to finish with double-digit kills, as the freshman hit .412 after recording 11 kills. Isabel Martin tallied eight and AC Fitzpatrick had six in their final collegiate match.

Alexis Stucky dished 37 assists and 11 digs in the match to record her second double-double of the season. Taylor Parks saw action in the setter’s position during the fourth set and added six assists and six digs.

Tags

About WRUF Staff

Check Also

Dooley’s Back Nine: What Happened To Strength Of Schedule In Selecting Gator Bowl?

The Back Nine comes at you now that we have adjusted to no Gators football …

© 2024 WRUF / Division of Multimedia Properties