Florida and Stanford will face off on the Pac-12 Network on Tuesday night
Match Notes<https://floridagators.com/documents/2023/8/28/3_Stanford.pdf>
PALO ALTO, Calif. – The eighth-ranked Florida volleyball team is set for a Top-10 matchup when the team faces No. 2 Stanford on Tuesday night in Maples Pavilion.
First serve is slated for 9 p.m. EST on the Pac-12 Network with Troy Clardy and Nicole Branagh on the call. The match can also be heard on the airways of ESPN Gainesville 98.1 FM/850 AM with Tom Collett on the call.
Both the Gators and the Cardinal went undefeated in their opening weekends, with Florida defeating then-No. 8 Penn State and South Florida during the Road 2 Tampa Bay Invitational. Stanford kicked off its 2023 campaign with wins over Northern Colorado and Colorado State.
Stanford holds the 9-5 series advantage over Florida, but the series is tied 2-2 in Palo Alto, Calif.
National Spotlight
* As a team, the Gators are ranked in the Top-20 in the nation in the following:
* Blocks per set (18th | 3.11)
* Individually, three Gators are ranked in the Top-20 nationally:
* Kennedy Martin: points per set (11th | 5.83) | kills per set (12th | 5.00)
* Anna Dixon: blocks per set: (19th | 1.78)
* Alexis Stucky: assists per set (20th | 11.22)
Historic Performances
* In the opening match of the 2023 season against No. 8 Penn State, Kennedy Martin (18) and Kira Hutson (14) combined for 32 kills
* The freshmen duo of Martin and Hutson were the first pair of freshmen to record 30+ combined kills in a season opening match, surpassing the mark of 28 from the duo of Kristy Jaeckel (15) and Kelly Murphy (13) in the season-opener in 2008
* Against South Florida on Aug. 26, Kennedy Martin posted 27 kills – the second-highest total for a freshman in the rally-scoring era (Aury Cruz, 31)
* Martin’s combined 45 kills were the most for a freshman in the first two matches of their career in the rally-scoring era, surpassing Thayer Hall’s mark of 41 in the 2018 season
* Against South Florida, Anna Dixon recorded a career-high 14.0 blocks, surpassing her previous career-high of 6.0. That mark was tied for the highest total in a match in program history with four-time All-American Rhamat Alhassan
* For their performances, Kennedy Martin and Anna Dixon were honored by the SEC, with Martin earning Overall/Offensive Player of the Week honors and Dixon being named Co-Defensive Player of the Week
Gators in the Polls
* After a 2-0 weekend to start the 2023 campaign, the Gators moved up three spots to No. 8 in the AVCA Top-25 Coaches Poll
* Four SEC teams are ranked in the Top 25: No. 8 Florida, No. 15 Kentucky, No. 23 Arkansas and No. 24 Tennessee. Auburn (56) and LSU (13) are all receiving votes in the preseason poll
Last Time Out
* The Gators started the season 2-0 with victories over No. 8 Penn State and South Florida at the Road 2 Tampa Bay Invitational this past weekend
* Florida topped the Nittany Lions in four sets on Friday night, following up with a come-from-behind victory against host institution South Florida in five sets
* Kennedy Martin led the way offensively over the weekend with 45 kills and a .379 clip, followed by 20 kills from Sofia Victoria, 18 from Anna Dixon and 17 from Kira Hutson
* Defensively, Dixon tallied 16 blocks to lead the way, while Martin (11) and Gabrielle Essix (10) combined for 21
* Alexis Stucky dished out 101 assists, including 55 in the four-set victory over Penn State. Dixon and Stucky also led the way behind the service line, recording five aces a piece
* In the backcourt, Elli McKissock registered a team-high 21 digs, followed by 17 from Trinity Adams and 16 from Emily Canaan. Stucky (15), Martin (13) and Dixon (12) were the other Gators in double-digit digs.
No. 8 Florida at No. 2 Stanford Broadcast Information
Date & Time: Aug. 29 | 9 p.m. EST
Live Stream: Pac 12 Network<https://pac-12.com/womens-volleyball/event/2023/08/29/florida-stanford> | Live Stats: Statbroadcast<http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=479196&vislive=fla> | Radio: ESPN 98.1 FM/850 AM<https://www.wruf.com/listen-live/>
Series Information – No. 8 Florida at No. 2 Stanford
Cardinal | 2023 season synopsis: 2-0
* This is the 15th meeting between the Gators and the Cardinal
* Florida trails 5-9 (5-9 under Mary Wise)
* 3-set: 2-3 | 4-set: 2-2 | 5-set: 2-3
* Home: 1-3 | Away: 2-1 | Neutral: 3-4
* Last Time Out: Aug. 30, 2022 | Gainesville, Fla. | L, 2-3 (29-21, 22-25, 25-16, 25-22, 10-15)
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