Jaela Auguste had a career-high night with 16 kills, seven digs and two assists for 20.5 points.
Box Score<https://floridagators.com/documents/2025/9/27/Mississippi_State_Box_score.pdf>
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 19 Florida volleyball team (5-5, 0-0 SEC) opened conference play with a five-set loss against the Mississippi State Bulldogs (11-0, 1-0 SEC) on Friday night inside the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
The Gators battled back from an early deficit in the opening set to secure a 25-23 victory, but the Bulldogs responded with set two (25-16) and set three wins (25-23). Florida forced a fifth set after winning the fourth, 25-19, but fell short in the final set 9-15.
Sophomore Jaela Auguste posted four career-highs, 16 kills, seven digs and two assists for 20.5 points, while having a team-high .500 hitting clip (16-4-24).
Florida hit .237 in the five setter, with Alexis Stucky registering her fourth double-double of the season after having a season-high 50 assists and team-high 16 digs. The redshirt junior added three kills and three blocks to her stat line as well.
Redshirt sophomore Jordyn Byrd finished with a team-high 17 blocks, while freshman Milica Vidacic and sophomore Lauren Harden pitched in nine each. Sophomore Alec Rothe (5) and redshirt sophomore Aniya Madkin (4) combined for nine, and Amaya Thomas added two to the Gators 77 in her first home appearance of the season.
At the net, the Gators notched 9.0 team blocks, with Auguste leading the way with five. Rothe followed with four of her own, while Byrd tied her career-high three. Three additional players contributed one to the stat sheet: Vidacic, Harden and redshirt freshman Kira Hutson.
In the backcourt, freshman libero Lily Hayes turned in 15 digs to go along with Stucky’s 16 and Auguste’s seven, while Harden (4), sophomore Taylor Parks (4), redshirt freshman Ella Vogel (3), senior Emily Canaan (2), sophomore Bella Lee (2), Byrd (2), and Vidacic (1) combined for 18 of Florida’s 56 digs.
Behind the service line, the Gators dropped six aces to the Bulldogs 11. Lee had a career-best two, while Auguste finished with two as well and Vogel and Parks added one apiece.
Mississippi State’s Lindsey Mangelson led the way for the Bulldogs with 16 kills and 12 digs for a team-high 18 points.
Records:
No. 19 Florida (5-5, 0-1 SEC)
Mississippi St. (10-1, 1-0 SEC)
Series record:
56-3 (0-1 under Theis)
3-set: 50-0; 4-set: 5-1; 5-set: 1-2
Home: 26-2; Away: 28-1; Neutral: 2-0
How It Happened
Set 1
* Tough serving from Mississippi State allowed for a 5-1 lead in the opening set before a dump from Stucky helped settle the Gators, as points from Byrd and Madkin helped Florida inch back within two (8-6) The Bulldogs responded with two-straight points to extend their lead to four and force Coach Theis to call a timeout, trailing 6-10. Out of the huddle, the Gators went on a 7-3 scoring run behind kills from Auguste and Byrd and make Mississippi State call a timeout. Byrd kept the momentum going with three-straight kills, but Gator errors allowed the Bulldogs to stay even at 16. Points were exchanged until back-to-back aces from the bulldogs gave the visiting team a 21-19 advantage and forced Florida to call its second timeout. Following the break, the Gators dug themselves a four-point deficit (19-23), but Parks subbed in to serve and dropped an ace to inch within two and serve four-straight to climb back and take set one 25-23.
* Set 1 Stats | .294 Hitting %| 17 Kills | 16 Assists | 11 Digs | 3.0 Blocks |1 Ace
* Bulldog Stats | .80 Hitting %| 8 Kills |8 Assists |8 Digs | 4.0 Blocks |5 Aces
Set 2
* Florida called an early timeout after falling to an 3-10 deficit and quickly used their second after the Bulldogs strung together four-straight points out of the huddle to extend their lead to ten (14-4). The Gators slowly chipped away with an ace from Vogel and points from Auguste, but MU pulled ahead, 20-11. Points from Vidacic kept the home team alive, but Florida dropped set two, 16-25.
* Set 2 Team Stats |.138 Hitting %| 13 Kills | 13 Assists |5 Digs | 1 Ace |0.0 Blocks
* Bulldog Stats | .619 Hitting %|14 Kills | 14 Assists | 7 Digs |3.0 Blocks | 1 Ace
Set 3
* Back-to-back aces from Auguste gave the Gators a 7-3 advantage at the start of set three. Florida continued to push, stringing three-straight points to head into the media timeout with a 15-8 lead. Following the break, the Bulldogs responded with two separate 3-0 scoring runs to inch back within four (20-16) and force Florida to call a timeout. Out of the huddle, attacking errors from the Gators allowed the Bulldogs to fight back and get within one and come away with a 25-23 win.
* Set 3 Team Stats | .195 Hitting %|15 Kills | 13 Assists |17 Digs | 3.0 Blocks |2 Aces
* Bulldog Stats |.257 Hitting %| 13 Kills | 12 Assists |17 Digs |3 Aces | 1.0 block
Set 4
* The two teams went back-and-forth throughout the first half of set four, as a kill from Byrd put the Gators up 15-14 heading into the media timeout. Following the break, the Bulldogs pulled by two (18-16), but kills from Auguste and Vidacic tied it back up and sent Bella Lee to the service line, where the sophomore dropped two critical aces to gain a 21-18 advantage and force a Bulldog timeout in hopes to slow Florida’s momentum, but Parks served the final three points to clinch the 25-19 victory and force a fifth set.
*
* Set 4 Team Stats | 448 Hitting %| 16 Kills | 14 Assists | 13 Digs | 2.0 Blocks | 2 Aces
* Bulldog Stats | .171 Hitting %| 11 Kills |8 Assists | 9 Digs | 1 Ace | 0.0 Blocks
Set 5
* The Bulldogs opened the set with a 3-0 run, but the Gators rallied to tie the score at 6-6 behind a pair of kills Vidacic. Mississippi State responded with a 6-0 serving run for a commanding 12-7 lead, where they would seal the 15-9 five-set win.
* Set 5 Team Stats |0.53 Hitting %| 5 Kills |3 Assists | 10 Digs |1.0 Blocks | 0 Aces
* Bulldog Stats | .333 Hitting %|10 Kills | 7 Assists | 10 Digs | 2.0 Blocks |1 Ace
Hear from Head Coach Ryan Theis:
“The combination of attack and reception errors made it almost impossible for us to overcome tonight.”
Notables
* The Gators are now 2-1 in five-set matches
* UF moves to 2-1 at home in the 2025 season
* When playing on a Friday, Florida is 0-3
* The Gators move to 3-4 in September play
* (career-highs) _Gator either set or registered career-bests in the five-setter:
* Jaela Auguste: 20.5 Points | 16 Kills | 7 Digs | 2 Assists
* Lauren Harden: 9 Kills | 4 Digs | 9.5 Points
* Milica Vidacic: .429 hitting % (9-3-14)
* Bella Lee: 3.0 Points | 2 Aces | 1 Kill (tied)
* Lily Hayes: 7 Assists (tied)
* Alexis Stucky: 16 Digs (tied)
* Jordyn Byrd: 3.0 Blocks (tied)
* (Season highs) Gator either set or registered season-bests in the five-setter:
* Alexis Stucky: 50 Assists | 16 digs | 3 Kills (tied)
* Lauren Harden: 1.0 Block
* Amaya Thomas: 2 Kills | 2.0 Points
* Florida recorded three, five-set team highs:
* 66 Kills
* 59 Assists
* 81.0 Points (tied)
* Alexis Stucky’s 50 assists marks a new individual five-set high
* Alexis Stucky had 50 assists and 16 digs for her fourth season, 14th career, double-double.
* Two players recorded double-digit kills:
* Jordyn Byrd: 17
* Jaela Auguste: 16
* Two Gators finished with double-digit digs:
* Alexis Stucky: 16
* Lily Hayes: 15
* The Gators have started their season with a 5-5 record three other times in 1990, 1988, and 1986 as well as a 6-4 record in 2021
* Florida sits 38-4 in conference openers
* In his coaching career, Ryan Theis sits 13-5 in conference openers
Up Next
The Gators return to the O’Dome on Sunday, Sept. 28 for an SEC matchup against Alabama (8-2, 0-0 SEC). Click here to check out Florida volleyball’s 2025 home match themes and promotions.<https://floridagators.com/news/2025/8/15/florida-volleyball-announces-2025-promotional-schedule.aspx>
Sunday, Sept. 28 vs. Alabama
* Venue: Exactech Arena at Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville, Fla.
* Tickets: http://bit.ly/4nGFpyU
* Promotion: Mario Day & Camper Reunion
* 500 “Super Gators” cream t-shirts
* Enter-to-win VIP Package
* Broadcast: SEC+ https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/1e25b062-b9b6-4481-81c9-2f9a9d456418
* Talent: Tom Collett and Ainsley Clifford
* Listen: https://floridagators.com/watch/?Live=5763&type=Live
* Talent: Sky Lebron and Nick Cheronis
* LiveStats: https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=600750
Alabama Series Record 54-0 (0-0 under Theis)
3-set: 50-0, 4-set: 4-0; 5-set: 0-0
Home: 28-0; Away: 23-0; Neutral: 3-0
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