The Gators offense was led by Kennedy Martin’s 25 kills.
Box Score<https://floridagators.com/documents/2024/9/29/Box_Score_vs._Kentucky.pdf>
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 15 Florida volleyball team had its five-win match streak broken on Sunday, falling to No. 12 Kentucky 1-3 (19-25, 20-25, 25-20, 28-30) inside the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. The Gators move to an 10-3 overall record and 1-1 in SEC play, while the Wildcats improve to 7-6 overall and 1-1 Conference action.
Florida grabbed the third set and attempted to rally back from an 0-2 deficit against their highest-ranked opponent this season, but was unable to put together two back-to-back points in the fourth set.
Florida hit .242 on Sunday, with Parks and Stucky getting action in the setter’s position. The freshman finished with 28 in three sets and Stucky tallied 11 in two sets.
Sophomore All-American Kennedy Martin was the lone Gator who finished with double-digit kills, tying her season-high 25 kills to finish with a .412 hitting percentage (25-4-51). Redshirt senior Isi Martin finished with nine and freshman Jaela Auguste had eight of her own. Fifth-year AC Fitzpatrick (3), freshman Alec Rothe (3), freshman Taylor Parks (1) and redshirt sophomore Alexis Stucky (1) totaled eight of Florida’s 50 team kills.
On the defensive end, libero Elli McKissock was the only Florida player to finish with double-digit digs on Sunday with 16. Four additional players had five or more digs: Isi Martin (8), K. Martin (7), Stucky (6) and junior Emily Canaan (5).
The Gators posted a season-low 4.0 team blocks and was out-blocked by Kentucky’s 9.0. Rothe led the way for Florida with three block assists and K. Martin had two. Auguste, Isi Martin and Parks all finished with one block assist as well.
Florida continued to dominate behind the service line, dropping 12 team aces. K. Martin had a team-high five en route to a new career high. Additionally, Parks dropped three of her own, while junior Emerson Hoyle tied her season-high of two aces.
Records
No. 15 Florida (10-3 1-1 SEC)
No. 12 Kentucky (7-6, 1-1 SEC)
How It Happened
Set 1
* The Gators came out firing on all cylinders, grabbing an early 6-2 lead after back-to-back kills from Isi Martin. Kentucky settled in and cut the gap to 6-4, but a block from Isi and Rothe followed by an ace from Parks widen Florida’s lead to 10-6. Back-to-back kills from Auguste ended a 4-0 Kentucky scoring run to lead 12-10. The Wildcats found their attacking rhythm and went on another 4-0 scoring run to take their first lead of the set, heading into the media timeout with a 15-12 advantage. Following the break, K. Martin put one down to side out and inch within two, but UK advanced their lead back to five and forced Florida to call a timeout after falling behind 13-18. The Gators kept fighting on both the offensive and defensive side, but was unable to close the gap on Kentucky’s lead – falling 19-25 in set one.
* Set 1 Team Stats | .211 Hitting % | 14 Digs | 13 Kills | 13 Assists | 2 Aces | 1.0 Team Block
Set 2
* After a slow 0-4 start, Florida cut the Wildcats lead to three after points from Park and Auguste. The Gators called a timeout after Kentucky widened to an 8-3 lead, and went on a 6-1 scoring run out of the huddle to make it nine all on the scoreboard. Following a Kentucky timeout, K. Martin recorded back-to-back aces to give Florida their first lead of the set, 11-9. The Wildcats responded with an ace of their own to reclaim a 12-11 lead. The two teams exchanged points heading into the halfway mark, and the Gators grabbed a 15-14 lead after a successful challenge from Coach Wise. A 3-0 scoring run from Kentucky gave them a 17-15 lead, but another service ace from Parks notched it up at 17. The Wildcats went up by two again and was able to hold onto the lead for a 25-20 second-set win.
* Set 2 Team Stats | .000 Hitting % | 10 Digs | 9 Kills | 7 Assists | 5 aces | 0.0 Team Blocks
Set 3
* The Gators came back to life in the third set, starting out with an early 5-3 lead. K. Martin capitalized off a Kentucky serving error with an ace of her own to continue UF’s momentum. The All-American followed up with two kills and a block assist to extend Florida’s lead to 13-9 lead and force a Kentucky timeout. Canaan dropped an ace out of the break to keep the Gator spark alive, but the Wildcats crept back within three to force Florida to use a timeout still with a 16-13 lead. Out of the huddle, three Kentucky errors and a kill from Fitzpatrick extended UF’s lead to six (20-14) and the Wildcats called their second timeout. An ace from Hoyle inched the Gators closer to set point, but UK hung around in the final moments to make the score 23-19. Florida used their second timeout to regroup and K. Martin came out of the huddle with back-to-back kills to take set three with a 25-20 victory.
* Set 3 Team Stats | .500 Hitting % | 12 Digs | 10 Kills | 10 Assists | 4 Aces | 1.0 Team Blocks
Set 4
* With match point on the line for Kentucky, Florida looked to give the Wildcats their third reverse-sweep loss of the season. Tied at five, the Gators fell behind by two, but slowly inched back to tie it at nine after a strong block from K. Martin and Rothe. Isi Martin gave UF their first lead of the set (10-9) since 1-0. The two teams exchanged service-error points, but Florida went into the media timeout with a 15-12 lead. The Wildcats went on a 5-0 scoring run after two successful challenges to take a 17-16 lead and Florida called a timeout. Two backrow attacks from K. Martin reclaimed an 18-17 Gator lead, but another momentum shift from UK put the Wildcats back on top with a 21-20 lead. K. Martin score two more points out of Florida’s final timeout to tie it back up at 22 and force a Kentucky timeout. The Wildcats pulled ahead to 24-23, but another kill from K. Martin tied it back up and make UK use their final timeout. Out of the Florida circle, UF had four opportunities to secure the fourth-set win, but Kentucky continued to fight and was the first to put back-to-back points together in the final stretch to secure a 30-28 victory. K. Martin finished with 11 kills to lead both sides in set four.
* Set 4 Team Stats | .300 Hitting % | 18 Digs | 16 Kills | 16 Assists | 2.0 Team Blocks | 1 Ace
Notables
* Kennedy Martin registered a career-high five aces
* Three Gators either set or tied season highs:
* Emerson Hoyle: 2 aces | 2.0 Points
* Emily Canaan: 1 Assist (Tied)
* Kennedy Martin: 25 Kills | 5 Aces | 7 Digs (Tied) | 31.0 points
* The Gators are now 1-2 against top-25 opponents this season
* Florida moves to 53-23 (51-16 under Wise) in the all-time series against Kentucky
* The Gators are now 9-4 in four-set matches against the Wildcats
* UF sits 26-12 against UK in Gainesville, Fla.
* Florida moves to 3-1 in four-set matches during the 2024 season
* The Gators are 3-1 this season when playing on a Sunday
* UF closes out the month of September with an 8-3 record
* Kennedy Martin’s 25 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 (1841), 10th for career aces (127) and 20th for career assists (482) in Program history
* Alexis Stucky ranks 11th for career assists in Program history with 1634
* Taylor Parks ranks 26th for career assists in Program history with 418
Up Next
* The Gators have the full week to prepare for their home match against No. 8 Texas on Sunday, Oct. 6. Florida’s matchup vs. the defending NCAA Champions is slated for 1 p.m. at Exactech Arena inside the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. Sunday’s Conference match can be watched on ESPN as well as listened to on 98.1FM/850AM. Additionally, those not in attendance can follow @GatorsVB on socials for match updates or via live stats.
No. 15 Florida vs. No. 8 Texas
Sunday, Oct. 6 | 1 p.m. ET
Exactech Arena – Gainesville, Fla.
ESPN<https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/bff9ad39-47c1-45e6-af0b-33b3cc4a5054> | Listen<https://floridagators.com/watch/?Live=5492> | Live Stats<https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=538166> | Tickets<https://am.ticketmaster.com/gators/en/buy/ism/VkIyNDA4>
Series Information
* Series Record 15-10 (15-9 under Wise)
* 3-set: 3-4; 4-set: 4-3; 5-set: 8-3
* Home: 7-4; Away: 6-4; Neutral: 2-2
* Last time out: 2018 | N | L, 2-3 (18-25, 25-21, 25-21, 21-25, 10-15)
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