The Gators advance to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament
Box Score<https://floridagators.com/common/controls/doc_handler.aspx?doc=35582> | Post-Match Press Conference<https://floridagators.com/documents/2023/11/30/FLORIDA_Postgame_Quotes_-_NCAA_VB_11-30-23.pdf> | 2023 NCAA Volleyball Tournament Interactive Bracket<https://www.ncaa.com/brackets/volleyball-women/d1/2023> | Tickets<https://floridagators.com/sports/2015/12/10/_tickets_volleyball_.aspx>
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 4 seeded Florida volleyball team started the NCAA Tournament off with a sweep against Florida Gulf Coast in Exactech Arena on Friday night to advance to the Second Round.
The Gators improve to 19-9 on the year and advance to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament for the 29th time in program history. Florida Gulf coast’s season comes to a close with a 26-7 record after winning the ASC Championship.
Florida took the first two sets 25-18, 25-16 and then wrapped up the night with a 25-17 victory in the third set.
Florida’s .313 offensive effort was led by Freshman Kennedy Martin who posted 14 kills behind 36 assists from Kennedy Muff. Sofia Victoria followed with 11 kills and Gabrielle Essix pitched in eight to finish with a .667 clip (8-1-13).
The Gators 7.0 total team blocks led to a .060 hitting percentage for the match by FGCU. AC Fitzpatrick led the way for Florida with five blocks to go along with her five kills.
Libero Elli McKissock paced Florida’s back-row defensive effort with 20 digs to set a new individual three-set season high. Kennedy Martin followed with 11 and Emily Canaan tallied six in the three-setter.
Behind the service line, the Gators tallied six aces. Elli McKissock finished with three on the night, recording two in the second set.
The Gators have a quick turnaround, returning to action for the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament tomorrow night at 7 p.m. Florida hosts The No. 5 seeded Georgia Tech on ESPN+.
Records
No. 20 Florida (19-9, 10-8 SEC)
Florida Gulf Coast (26-7, 15-1 ASC)
How It Happened
* FGCU got out to an early 6-3 in the opening set, but Florida quickly found its rhythm as a kill from Kennedy Martin tied it up at seven. The Gators gained a 11-10 lead and forced the Eagles to use their first timeout. Florida continued to create distance, going on a 4-0 scoring run behind Kennedy Muff’s serving, making it 15-10 to force FGCU to use its final timeout of the set. The Eagles put together two points out of the timeout, but wasn’t enough as Muff’s ace made its set-point and Martin closed out the first set with a 25-18 win.
* Florida hit .344 in the opening set, with six kills a piece from Kennedy Martin and Sofia Victoria
* The second set started similar as the first with Florida trailing 7-4. An ace from Elli McKissock put Florida within one and a deep ball from Sofia Victoria tied it up at seven. From there, Florida pushed the points going on a 4-0 scoring run behind McKissock’s serves to gain a 11-8 advantage. The Eagles pulled back within one, but Muff dished one over to regain a 13-11 lead and forced FGCU to use its first timeout. Florida maintained a consistent lead throughout the middle of the set and back-to-back blocks from Nnedi Okammor and AC Fitzpatrick put the Gators up 19-14. Following the Eagles final timeout of the set, Florida closed second set with 25-16 victory
* The Gators held the Eagles to a .000 clip,
* Florida gained an early 9-3 advantage in the third set thanks to a 4-0 scoring run behind Trinity Adam’s serves. The Eagles, who have gone into 11 five-set matches during their season, closed the gap to get within three (11-8). A service error ended FGCU’s comeback rally, and Florida would go on a 3-0 scoring and head into an Eagle timeout leading 19-11. Out of the break, FGCU’s blocking closed the gap to five, but Florida’s aggressive attack was too much to handle as the Gators would run away with a 25-17 third-set victory.
* Kennedy Martin had six of Florida’s 15 kills in the final set
Notables
* Kennedy Martin’s 14 continues her streak of recording 10 or more kills in every match this season.
* She now has 471total kills, which is the most by any freshman in Florida history
* Elli McKissock’s 20 digs moves her to 1649 career digs (2nd in program history)
* Her 423 career assists are good for No. 25 in program history
* Her three aces of the night move her to 18th in program history with 107 and is tied for 14th in Florida’s NCAA Tournament Record books.
* Martin recorded her seventh double-double of the season with 14 kills and 11 digs.
* Two Gators finished with double-digit kills: Kennedy Martin finished with 14 kills and Sofia Victoria recorded her 10th double-digit kill match with 11.
* Florida is now 26-0 in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament
* The Gators improve to 82-33 in the NCAA Tournament, including 80-32 record under Mary Wise
* 62-7 in Gainesville, Florida, 61-7 under Wise
* Florida improves to 4-0 against FGCU in the all-time series
* 4-0 in three-set matches
* UF is now 2-0 in the NCAA Tournament against the Eagles
* The Gators are now 10-3 in three-set matches during the 2023 season
* UF is now 2-0 in Thursday matches, last being against Sacramento State on Sept. 7 (W, 3-2)
* AC Fitzpatrick tied her block season-high with five
* Gabrielle Essix had a season-high eight kills
Up Next
* The Gators return to action for the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament tomorrow night at 7 p.m.
* Florida is set to face off against The No. 5 seeded Georgia Tech on ESPN+
Georgia Tech | 23-6 overall, 13-5 (ACC)
* Florida leads: 1-0 (1-0 under Mary Wise)
* 3-set: 0-0 | 4-set: 1-0 | 5-set: 0-0
* Home: 1-0 | Away: 0-0 | Neutral: 0-0
* NCAA Tournament series: N/A
* Last Time Out: Sept. 8, 2012| Gainesville, Fla. | W, 3-1 (22-25, 25-15, 25-21, 25-22)
FOLLOW FLORIDA VOLLEYBALL
FloridaGators.com<http://floridagators.com/index.aspx?path=volleyball>
Twitter<https://twitter.com/GatorsVB>
Instagram<https://www.instagram.com/gatorsvb/?hl=en>
Coach <http://www.twitter.com/GatorMary> Mary Wise<http://www.floridagators.com/coaches.aspx?rc=25> on Twitter | Coach <http://instagram.com/gatormary> Mary Wise<http://www.floridagators.com/coaches.aspx?rc=25> on Instagram
Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gator-Volleyball/154312757940308>
