No. 6 Seed Gators Dance to Sweet 16 with Five-Set Upset over No. 3 Seed Kansas
The program will make its 30th Regional Semifinal appearance next Thursday in Louisville, KY.
Box Score<https://floridagators.com/documents/2024/12/7/Box_Score_vs._Kansas.pdf> | NCAA Volleyball Tournament Bracket<https://www.ncaa.com/brackets/volleyball-women/d1/2024> | Press Conference<https://floridagators.com/index.aspx>
LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Florida volleyball team, who entered as the sixth-seeded team in the lower left region of the NCAA Tournament bracket, advanced to the 2024 NCAA Regional Semifinal after taking down Kansas in five sets (25-22, 21-25, 25-17, 24-26, 15-13) on their home court inside a sold-out Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena on Saturday night.
The Gators improve to 23-7 overall and will travel to Louisville, KY to take on Stanford on Thursday, Dec. 12th. The Cardinal, who are the No. 2 seed in the lower left region of the bracket and the fifth-ranked team in the country, advanced after sweeping both of their first and second round opponents.
Kennedy Martin was nothing short of impressive in the five setter, as the sophomore All-American had another record-breaking 33 kills to add to her program record as well as recorded the most kills during a NCAA Tournament match by a Gator. She registered a .310 hitting percentage to finish with a career-high 35.5 points. The AVCA Division I Player of the Year Semifinalist only sits 27 kills away from recording 1,000 career kills in just two short years.
Although Kennedy was the shining star of the night, the spark for Florida came from Alexis Stucky. The redshirt sophomore made her first tournament appearance of the season after starting the third set for Florida in the setter’s position. Stucky dished out a team-high 40 assists to lead three Gator attackers to double-digit kills, while tallying seven digs, two aces, one kill and one block in her three sets of play.
Taylor Parks served as Florida’s setter during sets one and two, contributing to Florida’s .274 hitting percentage with 27 assists.
Isabel Martin and Jaela Auguste rounded out the three Gators who finished in double-digits offensively. Isi Martin had 18 kills to finish with a .361 hitting clip, while Auguste hit .440 for a career-high 15 kills. AC Fitzpatrick also contributed eight to Florida’s stat line, with Alec Rothe and Amaya Thomas both having one kill a piece.
Both teams posted 12 team blocks, with Fitzpatrick tallying the only solo block for Florida to join Augsute with a team-high six. Rothe came up big when needed with four blocks of her own, while K. Martin and Isi Martin contributed three and two blocks, respectively.
In the backcrourt, Elli McKissock was solid in the match, stopping a powerful Kansas attack with 19 digs. Emily Canaan finished with nine, while Stucky and Isi Martin chipped in with seven. K. Martin (4), Parks (4), Fitzpatrick (3), and Auguste (1) added 12 to Florida’s 54 total digs.
Behind the service line, seven names added at least one ace to Florida’s nine aces, as Canaan and Stucky both dropped two apiece. Emerson Hoyle, Isi Martin, K. Martin, Parks and McKissock each finished with one on the night.
Records
No. 6/22 Florida (23-7, 11-5 SEC)
No. 3/12 Kansas (25-5 15-3 Big 12)
How It Happened
Set 1
* A big block from Thomas opened the first set for Florida, but Kansas responded with a 3-0 scoring run to take a 5-2 lead. Back-to-back kills from K. Martin and Fitzpatrick helped the Gators get back on track and a block from Fitzpatrick evened the score at seven. A birthday-ace from Canaan earned Florida a one-point lead, as Hoyle joined in on the fun with an ace of her own to help Florida pull ahead to an 11-8 lead. The Jayhawks remained close, but an open net from K. Martin followed up with a block from Auguste and Fitzpatrick took UF into the media timeout with an 15-13 advantage. The Jayhawks quickly used their first timeout after Florida added two more points to the scoreboard thanks to back-to-back kills from K. Martin. Another Gator ace from McKissock continued the momentum out of the huddle, as the Gators pushed to an 19-13 lead. Kansas slowly crept back and tied it back up at 20 after going on a 5-0 scoring run, but two backrow attacks from K. Martin allowed Florida a one-point lead. An ace from Parks made it set-point for the Gators, as K. Martin sealed the deal with a kill to give Florida a 25-22 set-one win.
* Set 1 Team Stats | .229 Hitting % | 16 Kills | 16 Assists | 10 Digs | 4.0 Team Blocks | 4 Aces
Set 2
* Florida took a 5-4 lead at the start of set two, but KU went on a 5-0 scoring run to force the Gators to use a timeout after falling to an 5-9 deficit. Out of the huddle, points from the Martin duo helped get things back on track, but serving errors allowed the home team a 17-10 lead. Florida fought back within five after a middle attack from Auguste and an ace from K. Martin, but fell behind 14-20. Following a Florida timeout, back-to-back kills from Isi Martin helped cut the gap to four, but the Jayhawks held on for a 25-21 second-set win.
* Set 2 Team Stats | .324 Hitting % | 16 Kills | 14 Assists | 8 Digs | 6.0 Team Blocks | 1 Ace
Set 3
* An ace from Stucky allowed the Gators first on the board in her first rep of NCAA Tournament play. KU’s aggressive defense earned them a 6-2 advantage, but kills from Auguste helped Florida get back on track and inch within two. Back-to-back kills from Isi Martin followed with two-straight attacks from K. Martin earned the Gators a 13-11 lead and forced Kansas to call a timeout. Out of the break, the Jayhawks evened the score at 13, but blocks from Fitzpatrick and Auguste allowed Florida to pull ahead to 16-13. K. Martin put one down in the front row before tallying a backrow attack to make the score 19-14 and make Kansas use their second timeout. A service ace from Canaan continued the momentum, as the Gators went up 2-1 after a kill from Auguste sealed the third-set 25-17 victory.
* Set 3 Team Stats | .351 hitting % | 19 Digs | 18 Kills | 18 Assists | 3.0 Team Blocks | 2 Aces
Set 4
* After battling point-for-point in the fourth set, KU took an early 9-7 lead. Florida kept the fight with versatile attacking, but the Jayhawks were able to hold onto a 15-12 lead heading into the media timeout. Out of the break, the Gators quickly regrouped after falling to an 17-13 deficit. K. Martin recorded with a backrow attack out of the timeout, but KU’s .355 hitting percentage allowed the home team to keep a steady lead in the closing moments. Florida stayed alive with kills from Auguste and K. Martin to inch back within two (21-19) and force KU to call a timeout. Out of the huddle, the Jayhawks were able to push to a 23-20 lead. With set-point Kansas, Florida tied it up at 24 after Stucky dropped a clutch ace and Auguste and Martin posted a block, but KU forced it to five after coming away with a 26-24 win.
* Set 4 Team Stats | .333 Hitting % | 18 Kills | 18 Assists | 9 Digs | 3.0 Team Blocks | 1 Ace
Set 5
* In the final set where winner takes all, Florida grabbed an early 5-1 lead thanks to points from the Martin duo and Rothe. KU rallied back within one after going on a 3-0 scoring run. Following a Gators timeout, Auguste put one down from the middle to help push Florida to an 8-6 lead before switching sides. Own Errors allowed the Jayhawks to tie it up eight, where the teams battled point-for-point heading into the final moments. Trailing 12-11, K. Martin recorded her 32nd kill to send Isi Martin behind the service line, where the Germany native dropped an ace to kick start the Gators 13-12 lead. From there, a block from K. Martin and Rothe made it match-point and K. Martin closed out the five-set met in record-breaking fashion with an attack to give the Gators the 15-13 win.
* Set 5 Team Stats | .100 Hitting % | 9 Kills | 9 Assists | 8 Digs | 2.0 Team Blocks| 1 Ace
Notables
* Florida improves to 28-5 in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament
* The Gators move to 84-34 in the NCAA Tournament, including an 83-33 record under Mary Wise
* UF becomes 2-1 (2-0 under Wise) in the all-time series record against Kansas
* Florida earns a 1-0 record against the Jayhawks in NCAA Tournament play
* In the NCAA Tournament, the Gators move to 5-9 in away matches
* Florida is now 1-0 in five-set matches against UK
* UF moves to 1-0 against the Jayhawks when playing in Lawrence, KS
* The Gators stretch to 4-1 in five-set matches during the 2024 season
* When playing on a Saturday, Florida stretches to a 4-1 record
* The Gators raise their December record to 2-0
* UF improves to 2-0 against Big 12 opponents
* Kennedy Martin’s 33 kills resets her program record as well as becomes a new Florida NCAA Tournament program record
* Two players either set a career high:
* Kennedy Martin: 33 Kills | 35.5 Points
* Jaela Auguste: 15 Kills | 18.0 Points
* Two Gators either set or tied a season high:
* AC Fitzpatrick: 6.0 Blocks
* Isabel Martin: 20.0 Points (tied)
* Florida recorded/tied five team five-set highs:
* Points: 98.0
* Kills: 77
* Total Attempts: 175
* Digs: 75
* Blocks: 12 (Tied)
* Kennedy Martin recorded three individual five-set match highs:
* Points: 35.5
* Kills: 33
* Total Attempts: 71
* Three Players registered double-digit kills:
* Kennedy Martin: 33
* Isabel Martin: 18
* Jaela Auguste: 15
* Elli McKissock was the only Gator to register double-digit digs with 19
* Kennedy Martin’s 33 Kills continues her streak of recording double-digit kills in every match she has played wearing the Orange and Blue (52 matches)
* Elli McKissock ranks 2nd for career digs (2,134), 8th for career aces (144) and 21st for career assists (541) in Program history
* Alexis Stucky ranks 14th for career assists in Program history with 1,948
* Taylor Parks ranks 19th for career assists in Program history with 851
Thoughts from Coach Wise
* “Such a high level, high intensity volleyball match, and it’s too bad it was in the second round. It was worthy of a Regional for how well both teams played. We haven’t played a team, truly in my tenure, who plays as clean level of volleyball than Kansas. They don’t give you any points… the fact that they hit only 6 balls out of bounds off 140 swings… I’m proud of our group. We have had so many challenges and this was another one. These guys really stepped up.”
Hear from the Libero Elli McKissock and Setter Alexis Stucky
On what the emotions were like on having a 5-1 lead in the fifth and then going down 12-11…
* “We win and lose as a team together, when things go right we look to each other and when things go wrong we look to each other. Just going hand-and-hand through the thick and thin.” – Elli McKissock
* “I felt like we were so confident. We went into that fifth set thinking we were going to win this. We thought that when we were up 5-1 and we thought that when we were down 12-11.” – Alexis Stucky
“On Alexis’ thought process on coming in to play after not playing the first two sets…”
* “I was thrilled to have my number called and our passers made it really easy for me tonight. We passed such a huge number and it helped me find a groove tonight, so huge credit to them.”
Up Next
* The Gators play in the NCAA Tournament Regional Semifinal on Thursday, Dec. 12 when they make their first appearance at the KFC Yum Center in Louisville, KY against Stanford. The Cardinals are the second seed in the lower left region of the bracket and are ranked No. 5 in the nation. Thursday’s match will stream live on ESPN2 as well as Fans can follow @GatorsVB on socials for match updates or via live stats, which can be found on volleyball’s schedule page on FloridaGators.com.
Stanford (27-4, 17-3 ACC)
Date & Time: Thursday, Dec. 12 | 7 p.m. E.T.
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Series Information
* Series Record 6-9 (6-9 under Wise)
* 3-set: 3-3, 4-set: 2-2; 5-set: 2-3
* Home: 1-3; Away: 3-1; Neutral: 3-4
* Last time out: Aug. 29, 2023 | W, 3-0 | A | 25-19, 29-27, 25-23
2024 NCAA volleyball tournament schedule
* Selection show: 6 p.m. ET Sunday, Dec. 1 on ESPN
* First and second rounds: Thursday, Dec. 5 through Saturday, Dec. 7
* Regionals: Thursday, Dec. 12 through Sunday, Dec. 15
* Semifinals: Begin at 6:30 p.m. ET Thursday, Dec. 19 on ESPN
* National championship: 3 p.m. ET Sunday, Dec. 22 on ABC
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