Merritt Beason led the offensive attack with a career-high 17 kills on the afternoon
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The 15th-ranked Florida volleyball team continued its momentum from a night ago, topping the East Tennessee State Buccaneers in four sets on Saturday afternoon.
It took extra points in the first frame, but the Buccaneers claimed the set 26-24 before the Gators bounced back to take the second set 25-17. In familiar fashion, Florida controlled the tempo in the third frame, winning 25-13 before closing out the match with a 25-15 victory.
Merritt Beason led the Florida offense on Saturday afternoon, finishing with a career-high 17 kills on 31 swings for a .484 clip. Bre Kelley followed with eight kills of her own and a .429 hitting percentage, while Sofia Victoria added seven kills of her own on the afternoon.
Alexis Stucky dished out 30 assists in her three sets of action, while Birdie Hendrickson added 10 helpers of her own.
Florida held the Buccaneers to a .067 hitting percentage in the match, the best defensive performance since holding Miami to a .053 clip on Dec. 3, 2021. Essix was a force at the net, tallying a career-high 8.0 blocks, two better than her previous best of 6.0. Kelley added four blocks, while six Gators posted two blocks in the match (Hendrickson, Beason, Fitzpatrick, Stucky, Rhett Robinson, Marina Markova).
Elli McKissock notched her second-straight match with double-digit digs, finishing the afternoon with a team-high 22. Emily Canaan and Trinity Adams each added six digs of their own in the victory.
Beason posted a team-high and career-high four service aces in the match, followed by two apiece from Stucky and McKissock.
The Gators close out the Invitational this evening against the Virginia Cavaliers. First serve is slated for 7:30 p.m. on the SEC Network +.
Records
No. 15 Florida (2-0)
East Tennessee State (0-2)
How It Happened
* With the first set tied 4-4, the Gators exploded on a six-point run with Trinity Adams behind the service line to force an ETSU timeout at the 10-4 mark. Florida continued to hold the lead out of the break, but the Buccaneers chipped away before taking the 19-17 advantage late in the frame to force a UF timeout. ETSU took as large as a four-point lead at 22-18, but the Gators fought back to tie it at 22-all with McKissock behind the service line. Florida once again had to fight from behind at 24-22, tying it at 24-24, but the Buccaneers closed out the frame on a 2-0 run to claim the first set.
* Florida was led by four kills from Beason in the frame, while Gabrielle Essix and Birdie Hendrickson added two blocks apiece at the net.
* The Gators got out to the early lead in the second set, holding a three-point advantage at the 10-7 mark. The Buccaneers fought back to tie the frame at 14-14, but Florida closed out the set with an 11-3 run, thanks in part to a six-point McKissock service run.
* UF hit .360 in the second set, while holding ETSU to a .074 clip. Victoria tallied a set-high five kills, followed by four apiece from Beason and Kelley.
* With the Gators ahead just one point at the 8-7 mark, Beason strung together an 8-0 service run to give Florida the comfortable nine-point lead. UF continued to build on that momentum, pulling ahead 12 points at 23-11. ETSU cut the deficit by two, but Robinson recorded back-to-back points to take the set 25-13.
* Florida hit a stellar .500 in the third set and held the Buccaneers to a -.074 clip. Beason once again led the pack, tallying four kills to bring her to 12 for the match.
* The fourth set was a tight contest to start with the teams trading points through 4-4. The Gators were then able to create some distance, putting themselves ahead four at 9-5 and held at least a three-point advantage through the rest of the set. UF got up as many as 12 at the 22-14 mark and won the set 25-15 to move to 2-0 on the year.
* Beason led the way with five kills in the fourth set, while Essix posted three blocks in the frame to secure the victory.
Notables
* In her Gator debut, Rhett Robinson posted two blocks and one kill
* Merritt Beason registered a career-high 17 kills and four service aces in the match
* Gabrielle Essix recorded a career-best 8.0 blocks on the afternoon
* Florida moves to 1-0 against the Buccaneers in program history
* The Gators improve to 2-0 in four-set matches during the 2022 campaign
Thoughts from Coach Wise
* “Similar to North Florida from a night ago, ETSU played error free and played very inspired in that first set. Once again, our team this early in the year had another opportunity to learn from it,”
Up Next
* The Gators are right back in action on Saturday evening against the Virginia Cavaliers
* First serve is slated for 7:30 p.m. on the SEC Network +
Series Information – No. 15 Florida vs. Virginia
Cavaliers | 2021 season synopsis: 8-20, 1-17 ACC
* This is the fourth meeting between the Gators and the Cavaliers
* Florida leads 3-0 (2-0 under Mary Wise)
* 3-set: 3-0 | 4-set: 0-0 | 5-set: 0-0
* Home: 3-0 | Away: 0-0 | Neutral: 0-0
* Last Time Out: Nov. 24, 1995 | Gainesville, Fla. | W, 3-0 (15-4, 15-8, 15-6)
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