No. 21 Florida Snaps No. 25 Missouri’s Nine-Match Win Streak with 3-2 Comeback Victory
The Gators hand Mizzou its first home loss of the season, while picking up their eighth-straight win.
Box Score<https://floridagators.com/documents/2024/11/16/At_Missouri_Box_Score.pdf>
COLUMBIA, Mo. – The No. 21 Florida volleyball team tallied their eighth-straight win of the season after coming back and defeating No. 25 Missouri 3-2 (15-25, 25-21, 27-25, 22-25, 15-6) on Friday night in front of 6,300 fans inside the Hearnes Center. The Gators hand Mizzou its first home loss of the season, while snapping their nine-match win streak to improve to 10-3 in conference play and 19-5 overall.
Friday’s win marks the first time since 2021 that Florida has won eight or more SEC matches in a row. The Gators won nine-consecutive conference matches from Oct. 16 to Nov. 21 during the 2021 season when two-match series were played back-to-back due to COVID-19 regulations.
Sophomore All-American Kennedy Martin officially recorded the most kills by a Florida Gator after recording 32 in the five setter. It marks a career-high for the Fort Mill, S.C. native, and surpasses her previous career best of 31 kills that she registered twice in four sets this season. Her 31 still marks the most kills in a four-set match, but her 32 surpasses former Gator Aury Cruz, the four-time AVCA All-American and three-time SEC Player of the Year, who recorded 31 kills against Nebraska on December 8, 2001 in Florida’s Final Four match, which went into five sets. Cruz’s recorded 31 kills twice in her career when rally scoring went to 30 points.
Additionally, fifth-year libero Elli McKissock recorded her 2,000th-career dig during the second set to become just the second Gator in program history to reach the milestone. The Windermere, Fla. currently has 2,018 career digs to sit behind Florida’s all-time leader Elyse Cusack’s 2,138 that she recorded from 2006-2009. Cusack ranks No. 2 in the SEC record books, while McKissock ranks fifth overall in the league.
Kennedy’s 32 kills led the way for Florida offensively, as she registered a .450 hitting clip and tallied only five errors off of 60 attempts. Redshirt senior Isabel Martin also finished in double-digit kills with 12, while freshman Jaela Auguste had nine of her own and hit .412 on the night. Furthermore, four other names contributed to Florida’s 66 kills: AC Fitzpatrick (5), Amaya Thomas (5), Alexis Stucky (2) and Alec Rothe (1).
Florida saw action from both setters in the five setter. Redshirt sophomore Alexis Stucky played in the sets one through four to register 35 assists, and freshman Taylor Parks finished with 24 assists after setting in sets one, four and five.
At the net, the Gators posted 11.0 team blocks and held Mizzou to their lowest home-match hitting percentage of the season with a .226 clip. Fitzpatrick recorded both of Florida two solo blocks, while Auguste finished with a team-high five block assists. Stucky and Thomas had three assists a piece, and K. Martin and Parks each had two. Lauren Harden, Isi Martin and Rothe all tallied one as well.
Two Gators finished with double-digit digs on Friday, as McKissock tallied a season-high 24 digs to lead the way for Florida in the backcourt. Junior Emily Canaan recorded a season-high of her own after having 11. Stucky’s eight, Isi’s eight and Kennedy’s six combined for 22 of Florida’s 67 digs, and five additional Gators tallied at least one to the stat sheet: Fitzpatrick (3), Parks (3), Emerson Hoyle (2), Auguste (1) and Harden (1).
Behind the service line, Canaan dropped three of Florida’s seven aces. Parks followed with two, while K. Martin and McKissock each tallied one.
Records
No. 21 Florida (19-5, 10-3 SEC)
No. 25 Missouri (18-6, 9-3 SEC)
How It Happened
Set 1
* Missouri grabbed the opening two points, but the Gators quickly tied it up following a kill from K. Martin and an ace from McKissock. Aggressive serving from Mizzou allowed the home team to take an 11-6 lead and make Florida use its first timeout. Out of the huddle, an outside attack from Isi Martin ended the Tigers run and brought Parks to the service line, where she dropped an ace to close the gap to five. Missouri extended their lead to 17-10, but a block from Fitzpatrick and a kill from K. Martin kept the Gators within striking distance. There was no stopping the Tigers attacking, as they hit .536 in the first set to come away with a 25-15 win.
* Set 1 Team Stats | .069 Hitting % | 11 Digs | 10 Kills | 10 Assists | 2 Aces | 1.0 Team Block
Set 2
* Florida started set two with a 3-0 lead and maintained the lead until Missouri fought back to tie it up at eight. A slide from Auguste put the Gators back in the lead, but the Tigers grabbed the next two points for an 11-10 lead. An attack from K. Martin evened it back up at eleven, as the sophomore continued to dominate with a backrow attack and an ace to give the Gators a 15-13 lead heading into the media timeout. Following the break, an ace from Canaan extended Florida’s lead to 17-14 and forced Mizzou to call a timeout. UF continued to bring the pressure and pulled ahead by five, but the Tigers inched back within three to make Coach Wise use her first timeout, still leading 22-19. Out of the huddle, the Gators allowed Missouri only two more points before securing a 25-21 victory.
* Set 2 Team Stats | .286 Hitting % | 16 Digs | 15 Kills | 15 Assists | 2 Aces | 1.0 Team Block
Set 3
* A kill by Auguste tied it at five, but two Gator errors allowed Mizzou a 9-7 lead. Florida settled in with a 4-0 scoring run to go up 12-9, thanks to points from K. Martin and Thomas. The Tigers stuck around and went on a 4-0 scoring run of their own to head into the media timeout ahead 15-13. Following the break, UF tallied three-consecutive points before back-to-back aces from Canaan gave the Gators a 20-17 lead. A big block from Stucky and Thomas made it 22-18 and forced Mizzou to call their second timeout. Out of the huddle, kills from Stucky and Isi Martin put the Gators at set-point, but Mizzou kept the fight and tied it up at 24. Thomas put one down from the middle to make it set-point Florida, but Missouri responded with an attack of their own before the Gators were able to grab the next two points for a 27-25 third-set win.
* Set 3 Team Stats | .222 Hitting % | 20 Digs | 17 Kills | 16 Assists | 5.0 Team Blocks | 2 Aces
Set 4
* Kills from the Martin duo put Florida on the board, but Mizzou controlled the opening half of set four with an 11-6 lead. Following a Florida timeout, Parks reentered the match and assisted the Gators in two 3-0 scoring runs to creep back within one, 15-16. A kill from K. Martin followed by a block from Parks and Thomas evened the score at 17, as points were traded until Mizzou tallied back-to-back points for a 21-19 advantage. Following a Florida timeout, back-to-back kills from K. Martin brought the Gators within one, but Missouri was able to force a fifth set after holding on for a 25-22 win.
* Set 4 Team Stats | .229Hitting % | 14 Kills | 14 Assists | 12 Digs | 3.0 Team Blocks | 0 Aces
Set 5
* Where winner takes all, back-to-back kills from K. Martin put Florida first to five and force a Missouri timeout after the Gators took an early 5-1 lead. Out of the huddle, three Tiger errors put Florida up by seven as the teams traded sides. Missouri made their attempt at a comeback, but there was no stopping Florida’s momentum in the final set, as the Gators completed the comeback victory with a 15-6 fifth-set win. Kennedy Martin registered seven of Florida’s 10 kills in the final set.
* Set 5 Team Stats | .600 Hitting % | 10 Kills | 9 Assists | 6 Digs | 1 Aces | 1.0 Team Block
Notables
* Three players either set or tied a career high:
* Kennedy Martin: 32 Kills | 34 Points
* AC Fitzpatrick: 2 Solo Blocks
* Lauren Harden: 1 Block (Tie) | 1 Dig (Tie)
* Three Gators either set or tied a season high:
* Elli McKissock: 24 Digs
* Emily Canaan: 11 Digs
* Emerson Hoyle: 2 Digs (Tie)
* Florida either recorded or tied four Team five-set highs:
* 84.0 Points
* 67 Digs
* 64 Assists
* 66 Kills (Tied)
* Two Gators set four Individual five-set highs:
* Kennedy Martin: 34 Points | 32 Kills | 60 Attempts
* Elli McKissock: 24 Digs
* Two Gators recorded double-digit kills: Kennedy Martin: 32 and Isabel Martin: 12
* Two Players finished with double-digit digs: Elli McKissock: 24 and Emily Canaan: 11
* The Gators improve to 14-5 (14-5 under Wise) in the all-time series record against Missouri
* Florida moves to 3-3 in five-set matches against the Tigers
* UF sits 6-3 against Mizzou when playing in Columbia, Mo.
* The Gators are now 3-1 in five-set matches during the 2024 season
* Florida improves 7-1 in Friday matches
* UF remains undefeated in November matches with a 4-0 record
* The Gators are now 2-3 when playing against a Top-25 opponent
* Friday’s win marks Florida’s six comeback victory of the season
* Kennedy Martin’s 32 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 (2,018), 9th for career aces (138) and 21st for career assists (519) in Program history
* Alexis Stucky ranks 14th for career assists in Program history with 1,880
* Taylor Parks ranks 20th for career assists in Program history with 591
Thoughts from Coach Wise
* “Two teams that battled awfully hard in an atmosphere worthy of the play. A lot of big-time performances by our team who showed a lot of toughness on the road and came out with a W.”
Up Next
* The Gators have the weekend off before traveling to Auburn, AL for a midweek matchup on Nov. 20. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. and will be aired on the SEC Network. Additionally, follow @GatorsVB on socials for match updates or via live stats, which can be found on volleyball’s schedule page on FloridaGators.com.
* Florida then returns home for its senior-day match against UCF on Saturday, Nov. 23 at 4:30 p.m.
No. 21 Florida (19-5, 10-3 SEC) vs. Auburn (14-10, 4-9 SEC)
Wednesday, Nov. 20 | 7 p.m. ET
Neville Arena – Auburn, AL
SECN<https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/69bca2c6-f8cb-4717-918e-b6ffcbddeaa3> | Live Stats<https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=537355&vislive=fla>
Series Information
* Series Record 55-3 (51-2 under Wise)
* 3-set: 41-1; 4-set: 12-1; 5-set: 3-1
* Home: 27-1; Away: 26-2; Neutral: 3-0
* Last time out: Nov. 8, 2024 | W, 3-0 | H | 25-14, 25-18, 25-19
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