No. 10 Florida Volleyball had four players finish with double-digit kills in Sunday’s comeback win.
Box Score<https://floridagators.com/documents/2024/9/8/Box_Score.pdf>
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – On the final day of the Florida Invitational, nine different Gators contributed to the stat sheet in No. 10 Florida volleyball’s 3-1 (20-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-21) comeback-win against Ohio State on Sunday. It marks the second comeback win of the season, as the Gators move to 5-1 on the season and 3-0 in four-set matches.
Florida posted a season-high 57 kills, with four players registering double-digit kills in the win. Isabel Martin led the Gators for the fourth time this season with 14 kills to recorded her fourth double-digit match as a Gator. Junior Amaya Thomas and freshman Jaela Auguste both finished with a career-high 12, while freshman Alex Rothe tallied 10 kills of her own. AC Fitzpatrick was just short of double-digits, recording eight in the four-setter. Freshman duo – Auguste and Rothe – had only one hitting error a piece to finish above a .400 hitting clip. Auguste registered a .733 hitting percentage (12-1-15) and Rothe had a .562 (10-1-16) in the comeback win.
Taylor Parks directed Florida’s offense to earn a career-high 50 assists. The SEC Freshman of the Week logged six digs, while tying her career-high three aces for the third time.
On the defensive end, Elli McKissock led the way with 16 digs, while Trinity Adams ran down a season-high 11 on Sunday. Martin finished with nine to fall one short of a double-double. Four additional players contributed to the Gators 50 total digs: Taylor Parks (6), Rothe (4), Canaan (3), Engel (1)
Florida out-blocked Ohio State 8.0-6.5 with five players having one or more block assists. Martin tied her career high 2 solo blocks and Auguste got up to record four block assists. Fitzpatrick added three block assists to the stats sheet and Thomas and Rothe both finished with two.
Making her Gator debut, graduate transfer Erin Engel dropped three aces to help Florida record a team-high 12 aces. The Florida native subbed in to serve for Auguste during the second set t and recorded an ace on her first ever play wearing the Orange and Blue jersey. Parks (3), Martin (2), Adams (2), Fitzpatrick (1) and McKissock (1) all had an ace as well on Sunday.
Records
No. 10 Florida (5-1, 0-0 SEC)
RV Ohio State (3-2, 0-0 Conference)
How It Happened
Set 1
* Parks dropped an ace following the opening whistle and posted a solo block a few points later to put Florida ahead 5-4 at the start of set one. The Gators were the first to 10 after another ace from the freshman setter to give them a one-point lead. Two solo blocks by Martin extended the lead by three, as the Gators went into the media timeout in the lead 15-13. Following the break, Ohio State went on a three-point run to take the lead and Florida called a timeout trailing 16-18. Back-to-back points from the Buckeyes extended their lead to four, but a straight-down kill from Thomas ended the run. Another kill from Thomas kept the Gators within three heading into the final points of set one, but was unable to make the comeback and dropped set one 25-20. Overall, there were nine lead changes in opening set.
* Set 1 Team Stats | .276 Hitting % | 13 Kills | 12 Assists | 11 Digs | 3.0 Team Blocks | 2 aces
Set 2
* A 10-foot beat down by Auguste and an ace from Adams gave Florida a 6-3 advantage at the start of the second set. An unsuccessful challenge from Ohio State extended Florida’s lead to four, but the Buckeyes didn’t go away and crept within one. A block from Rothe and Thomas stopped the rally, and the Gators went into the media timeout ahead 15-13. Checking into her first match as a Gator, Erin Engel served an ace and celebrated the special moment as well as the now 20-16 lead with her team. Once again, Ohio State battled back and scored back-to-back points to force a Florida timeout, still ahead 22-20. Energy relaxed out of the huddle following a kill from Thomas, and the Gators came away with a 25-20 win to force a fourth set.
* Set 2 Team Stats | .231 Hitting % | 25 Kills | 24 Assists | 28 Digs | 5 Aces | 5.0 Team Blocks
Set 3
* An early 5-0 scoring run thanks to Florida’s strong block gave the Gators a 7-3 lead in the third frame. Ohio State called a timeout in hopes to stop momentum, but Adams dropped her second ace of the match to pull ahead by six and be the first to 10. Engel recorded her second ace of the match and a kill from Parks put Florida first to the fifteen-point mark. Similar to before, the Buckeyes made a rally of their own to cut the Gators lead to 16-14. Following a Florida timeout, the team regrouped and two kills (Auguste) and an ace (Fitzpatrick) widened the gap to 20-16 lead. With 25 inching near, the two teams rallied back-and-forth and Ohio State’s block made it a only a one-point lead. A kill from Rothe made it Gator set-point, and with the crowd on their feet, an AC kill secured set four, 25-23.
* Set 3 Team Stats | .357 Hitting % | 15 Kills | 14 Assists | 9 Digs | 4 Aces
Set 4
* Following an early 4-1 Florida lead, the Gators allowed Ohio State to get within one to go back-and-forth in the opening 10 points of the fourth set. The Gators never lost the lead and another ace from Engel helped UF take a three-point lead, 20-17. The Buckeyes cut the lead to one heading into the closing moments, but a 4-0 scoring run behind Parks’ serve clinched the comeback win after taking set four, 25-21.
* Set 4 Team Stats | Hitting % | Kills | Assists | Digs | Aces | Team Blocks
Notables
* Graduate Erin Engel made her career-debut in the Orange and Blue jersey
* Five players set or tied career-highs on Sunday
* Jaela Auguste: 12 Kills | .733 hitting % (12-1-15) | 14.0 Points
* Taylor Parks: 50 Assists | 3 Aces (Tied)
* Alec Rothe: 4 Digs | .563 Hitting % (10-1-16)
* Amaya Thomas: 12 Kills | 1 Assist | 13.0 Points
* Isabel Martin: 2 solo blocks (Tied)
* Four Gators set new season-highs against Ohio State
* AC Fitzpatrick: 1 Ace
* Trinity Adams: 11 Aces | 2 Aces | 2.0 Points
* Erin Engel: 3 Aces | 1 Dig
* Isabel Martin | 9 Digs |
* Florida recorded four team and three individual four-set highs
* Team: 57 Kills | 55 Assists | 50 Digs | 12 Aces
* Individual: Jaela Auguste: .733 attack percent (12-1-15) | Taylor Parks: 50 Assists | Elli McKissock: 16 Digs
* Four Gators finished with double-digit kills for the first time since Dec. 1, 2023
* Isabel Martin: 14 | Amaya Thomas: 12 | Jaela Auguste: 12 | Alec Rothe: 10
* UF improves to 4-1 (4-1 under Wise) in all-time series against Ohio State
* The Gators are now 3-0 in four-set matches against the Buckeyes
* Florida now holds a 3-0 record against Ohio State in Gainesville, Fla.
* UF is now 3-0 in four-set matches during the 2024 season
Thoughts from Head Coach Mary Wise
* “The Team grew as much over the weekend than any team we’ve had. We are putting so much on so few players and their grit came up huge today.”
Post-game radio interview from Associate Head Coach Dave Boos
“On telling the story from today’s match…”
“When you have two freshman who combined had 22 kills, two errors on 31 attempts, that’s fantastic stuff. That is not something to expect verse the quality of the block from opponent Ohio State. Erin Engel is a legacy of this program… to be out there in a moment like this, I couldn’t be happier.”
Up Next
* Florida travels to Atlanta, GA for two mid-week matches on Wednesday, Sept. 11 and Thursday, Sept. 12 against Georgia Tech and Alabama State. The Gator face their first ranked opponent of the season and look to redeem their 2023 NCAA Tournament finish against No. 19 Yellow Jackets on Wednesday. First serve is set for 7 p.m. ET inside McCamish Pavilion and will be aired on ESPN2 with Anne Marie Anderson and Holly McPeak on call. Thursday’s neutral-site matchup against the Hornets will begin at 3:30 p.m. inside McCamish Pavilion.
No. 10 Florida at No. 19 Georgia Tech
Wednesday, Sept. 11 | 7 p.m. ET
McCamish Pavilion | Atlanta, GA
#10 Florida 5-1 | #19 Georgia Tech 4-1
ESPN2 <https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/7a2919fd-b3ad-43c3-ad5e-1a577e787572> | Live Stats<https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=538360&vislive=fla>
No. 10 Florida vs. Alabama State
Thursday, Sept. 12 | 3:30 p.m. ET
McCamish Pavilion | Atlanta, GA
#10 Florida 5-1 | Alabama State 3-3
Series Information
* Georgia Tech
* Series Record 1-1 (1-1 under Wise)
* 3-set: 0-0; 4-set: 1-0; 5-set: 0-1
* Home: 1-1; Away: 0-0; Neutral: 0-0
* Last time out: 2023 | L 2-3 | H | 25-22, 28-30, 21-25, 25-18, 14-16
* Alabama State
* Series record 4-0 (4-0 under Wise)
* 3-set: 4-0, 4-set: 0-0; 5-set: 0-0
* Home: 4-0; Away: 0-0; Neutral: 0-0
* Last time out: 2019 |W, 3-0 | H | 25-10, 25-16, 25-20
FOLLOW FLORIDA VOLLEYBALL
FloridaGators.com<http://floridagators.com/index.aspx?path=volleyball>
Twitter<https://twitter.com/GatorsVB>
Instagram<https://www.instagram.com/gatorsvb/?hl=en>
Coach <http://www.twitter.com/GatorMary> Mary Wise<http://www.floridagators.com/coaches.aspx?rc=25> on Twitter | Coach <http://instagram.com/gatormary> Mary Wise<http://www.floridagators.com/coaches.aspx?rc=25> on Instagram
Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gator-Volleyball/154312757940308>
