Florida Volleyball Sends Love to Baton Rouge with Sweep over LSU

The Gators recorded their best hitting percentage in Conference play.

Box Score<https://floridagators.com/documents/2024/10/20/Box_Score_PDF.pdf>

BATON ROUGE, La. – The No. 23 Florida volleyball team tallied their second-consecutive sweep on Sunday afternoon, defeating LSU 3-0 (25-10, 25-18, 25-17) inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. The Gators improve to 4-3 in Conference play en route to a 13-5 overall record.

All-American setter Alexis Stucky dished out 31 assists to captain Florida’s .367 hitting clip, as the Gators recorded only seven attacking errors off of 79 attempts. Sophomore All-American Kennedy Martin led offensively with 12 kills, while fifth year outside hitter AC Fitzpatrick finished in double-digits as well with 10. Redshirt senior Isabel Martin followed with eight of her own, and freshman duo Jaela Auguste (3) and Alec Rothe (2) combined for five.

On the defensive side, the Gators held the Tigers to a .111 hitting percentage, with Auguste leading the way in blocks with five. Stucky posted four of her own, while three other players contributed to one block assist: Fitzpatrick, K. Martin and Rothe.

Libero Elli McKissock led the backcourt with 14 digs, with six Gators also adding two or more digs to the stat sheet: Isi Martin (4), Fitzpatrick (4), K. Martin (3), Stucky (2), junior Emily Canaan (2), freshman Taylor Parks (2).

Behind the service line, Canaan dropped five of Florida’s eight aces to tie her career-high, while McKissock added three of her own.

Records
No. 23 Florida (13-5, 4-3 SEC)
LSU (11-7, 3-4 SEC)

How It Happened
Set 1

  *   The Gators grabbed an early 3-0 lead in the opening set, and extended their lead to 5-1 after back-to-back kills from Fitzpatrick. With K. Martin at the service line, Florida pushed to a 10-2 lead and forced LSU to use their first timeout. Out of the huddle, Gator errors allowed the Tigers to rack up three points, but back-to-back blocks from both Stucky and Rothe advanced the score to 16-6, making LSU use their second timeout. Following the break, Florida refused to let anything drop, picking up everything the Tigers threw their way to go on a 5-0 scoring run behind McKissock’s serving. A put down from Auguste put the dot on the exclamation point, as the Gators closed out set one with a 25-10 win.
  *   Set 1 Team Stats | .400 Hitting % | 12 Kills | 12 Digs | 11 Assists | 4.0 Team Blocks | 1 Ace
Set 2

  *   The Tigers settled in to take a two-point lead at the start of the second set, but back-to-back kills from K. Martin tied it up at four. Points were exchanged, but the Gators were the first to 10 after an LSU serving error. K. Martin found space over the block to extend Florida’s lead to 12-10. The sophomore added two more points to the score, as the Gators went into the media timeout with a 15-13 advantage. Following the break, a 10-foot beat down from Auguste kept the momentum going, and back-to-back aces from Canaan forced LSU to call a timeout after the Gators went ahead 20-16. Out of the huddle, Canaan tallied her third-consecutive ace, while Isi Martin had her fun with back-to-back kills to make it set-point. The Tigers hung around, but an attack from K. Martin secured the 25-18 second-set win.
  *   Set 2 Team Stats | .333 Hitting % | 14 Kills | 13 Digs | 12 Assists | 3 aces | 1.0 Team Block
Set 3

  *   A kill from Stucky forced the Tigers to call an early timeout after Florida grabbed a 7-2 lead. Out of the huddle, the Tigers slowly inched within four, but a kill from K. Martin put Florida first to the halfway mark with a 15-10 advantage. A backrow attack from K. Martin brought Canaan back to the service line, where the junior dropped her fourth ace of the match to push the Gators closer to match-point. A successful challenge from Coach Wise made it 20-16, as Florida went on a 3-0 scoring run to force an LSU timeout. A tiger hitting error brought it to match-point and Fitzpatrick recorded her tenth kill of the match to secure the Sunday sweep for the Gators after a 25-18 third-set win.
  *   Set 3 Team Stats | .375 Hitting % | 10 Kills | 9 Assists | 6 Digs | 4 Aces | 1.0 Team Blocks
Notables

  *   One player tied her career high:
     *   Emily Canaan: 5 Aces
  *   Two Gators finished with double-digit kills: Kennedy Martin (12) and AC Fitzpatrick (10)
  *   Florida improves to 53-14 (50-6 under Wise) in the all-time series against LSU
  *   The Gators are now 31-7 in three-set matches against the Tigers
  *   UF sit at a 22-7 record when playing LSU in Baton Rouge, La.
  *   Florida moves to 7-3 in three-set matches during the 2024 season
  *   The Gators improve to 4-3 when playing on a Sunday
  *   UF takes a 3-2 record in October matches
  *   Kennedy Martin’s 12 Kills continues her streak of recording double-digit kills in every match she has played wearing the Orange and Blue
  *   Elli McKissock ranks 2nd for career digs (1,912) 8th for career aces (131) and 21st for career assists (498) in Program history
  *   Alexis Stucky ranks 14th for career assists in Program history with 1,779
Up Next

  *   Florida has the week off before hosting Tennessee in Florida’s Pink Game on Friday, Oct. 25 inside the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. with pink tumblrs being passed out to the first 1,000 fans.
  *   Gator fans not in attendance can watch Friday’s match on SEC Network or listen on 98.1FM/850AM. Additionally, follow @GatorsVB on socials for match updates as well as via live stats, which can be found on volleyball’s schedule page on FloridaGators.com.
  *   Fans can purchase single-game tickets for the remaining matches. To purchase, click here<https://am.ticketmaster.com/gators/buy?id=NzEx>. For more information on football tickets, call the Gator Ticket Office at (352) 375-4683<tel:3523754683>.
No. 23 Florida vs. Tennessee
Friday, Oct. 25 | 7 p.m. ET

Exactech Arena – Gainesville, Fla.
SECN<https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/98acf008-00f4-4732-8423-47788beb03bf> | Listen<https://floridagators.com/watch/?Live=5502> | Live Stats<https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=538169> | Tickets<https://am.ticketmaster.com/gators/en/buy/ism/VkIyNDEx>

Series Information

  *   Series Record 55-14 (51-9 under Wise)
  *   3-set: 41-2; 4-set: 12-4; 5-set: 2-8
  *   Home: 28-8; Away: 26-5; Neutral: 1-1
  *   Last time out | L, 2-3 | H | 25-23, 14-25, 25-20, 23-25, 13-15

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Abby Wisecup
Communications Assistant Director (Swim and Dive) (Volle