The Gators were led behind Kennedy Martin’s 29 kills.
Box Score<https://floridagators.com/documents/2024/11/23/UCF_Box_Score.pdf>
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In their last regular-season home match, the No. 20 Florida volleyball team came away with a 3-1 (25-20, 25-18, 20-25, 25-16) senior-day win against UCF on Saturday. The Gators earn their 10th-straight win and improve to a 21-5 overall record, while remaining second in conference play with an 11-3 record.
Saturday’s win marks the first time in four seasons that Florida has won 10 consecutive matches. The Gators won 11 conference matches in a row during the spring portion of the 2020-21 season, when the Southeastern Conference announced a spring and fall format due to COVID-19. The spring season served as a continuation to the 2020 fall season with the format consisting of 16 matches against eight opponents and was played as double-header series, consisting of four home weekends and four away weekends.
AVCA Player of the Year Semifinalist Kennedy Martin recorded her second-straight double-double on Saturday after having 29 kills and 10 digs. The All-American registered a .510 hitting percentage to mark her sixth match of the season hitting above .500 as well as her 48th-consecutive match finishing with double-digit kills. Isabel Martin had back-to-back double-double matches as well, totaling 11 kills and 10 digs in the four setter.
Setter Taylor Parks’ 53 assists commanded the Gators offense to a .353 hitting percentage to record a four-set career best in the victory.
Freshman Lauren Harden finished with a career-high six kills and a .353 hitting clip playing in a bigger role for the Gators. Her freshman teammates Alec Rothe and Jaela Auguste followed with five kills each.
In the backcourt, libero Elli McKissock had a team-high 20 digs for her third-consecutive 20-plus match. Junior Emily Canaan was the fourth Gator to finish in double-digits after grabbing 10 digs of her own.
Florida’s 6.0 team blocks were led by Auguste’s five, while Harden posted a career-high two to finish alongside K. Martin’s two.
The Gators tied their four-set high of 12 aces, with junior Emerson Hoyle and McKissock leading the way behind the service line with three aces each. Hoyle’s three aces were recorded in the fourth set, dropping back-to-back aces to kickstart the Gators scoring run. Additionally, four names added one or more aces to Florida’s stat sheet: Parks (2), Canaan (2), K. Martin (1) and Isi Martin (1)
Records
No. 20 Florida (21-5, 11-3 SEC)
UCF (9-16 2-13 Big 12)
How It Happened
Set 1
* After trading the opening points with UCF, Florida tallied four-straight points as an ace from Parks forced the Knights to call a timeout. The Gators continued their momentum and pulled ahead to a 17-10 lead behind a McKissock serving 4-0 scoring run. A block from the freshman duo, Auguste and Parks, followed by back-to-back kills from Isi Martin advanced UF’s lead to 21-14. Another ace from McKissock and the 11th kill of the set from K. Martin inched Florida to set-point, but the Knights kept a fight with a 3-0 scoring run before Rothe closed out set one with 25-20 win.
* Set 1 Team Stats | .378 Hitting % | 17 Kills | 17 Digs | 15 Assists | 2 Aces | 2.0 Team Blocks
Set 2
* Trailing 1-5 at the start of the second set, Florida rallied back behind McKissock’s serving to even the score at five. UCF errors combined with an Isi Martin-Auguste block and K. Martin kill pushed the Gators to a 10-7 lead. Versatile hitting and an ace from McKissock put Florida ahead by five, as the Knights called a timeout with 17-12 on the scoreboard. Out of the huddle, K. Martin served four-straight to pull ahead to a 22-14 lead and the Gators were able to hold onto the lead for a 25-18 win.
* Set 2 Team Stats | .353 Hitting % | 16 Digs | 15 Kills | 14 Assists | 3 Aces | 1.0 Team Block
Set 3
* It was a tightly contested matchup the entire way, as the third set saw 15 tie scores alone. Heading into the media timeout ahead 15-14, the Gators extended their lead to three after a set dump from Parks and a kill from Isi Martin. UCF responded to a Florida serving error with an ace to even the score at 18 and force a Florida timeout. Out of the huddle, K. Martin gave the Gators a 19-18 advantage, but the Knights went on a 6-0 scoring run to come away with a 25-20 win and take the match into four sets.
* Set 3 Team Stats | .300 Hitting % | 15 Digs | 14 Kills | 14 Assists | 2 Digs | 1.0 Team Block
Set 4
* Back-to-back aces from Hoyle forced an early UCF timeout after Florida pulled ahead to a 10-6 lead. Hoyle served four more points and tallied another ace to extend the Gators lead to 13-7. A block from Auguste and K. Martin kept the momentum high for the home team to make the Knights call their second timeout after UF went up 18-9. The underclassman duo posted two more blocks to inch closer to match point, as K. Martin tallied her 29th kill of the day to close out senior day with a 25-16 fourth-set win.
* Set 4 Team Stats | .375 Hitting % | 17 Digs | 15 Kills | 15 Assists | 5 Aces | 2.0 Team Blocks
Notables
* The Gators have now won 20 or more matches in 33 of Mary Wise’s 34 years at the helm of Florida volleyball.
* Three players either set or tied at least one career high:
* Lauren Harden: 6 Kills | .353 Hitting % | 7.0 Points
* Emerson Hoyle: 3 Aces (Tied) | 3.0 Points (Tied)
* Amaya Thomas: 1 Assists (Tied)
* One Gator set a season high:
* Emerson Hoyle: 4 Digs
* Florida tied two team four-set match highs
* 79.0 Points
* 12 Aces
* One name recorded an individual four-set match high
* Taylor Parks: 53 Assists
* Two Gators recorded double-doubles on Saturday:
* Kennedy Martin: 29 Kills & 10 Digs
* Isabel Martin: 11 Kills & 10 Digs
* Two players hit double-digit kills:
* Kennedy Martin: 29
* Isabel Martin: 11
* Four names registered double-digit digs:
* Elli McKissock: 20
* Kennedy Martin: 10
* Isabel Martin: 10
* Emily Canaan: 10
* The Gators move to 21-0 (9-0 under Wise) in the all-time series against UCF
* Florida improves to 6-0 in four-set matches against the Knights
* UF sits 11-0 against UCF when playing in Gainesville, Fla.
* During the 2024 season, Florida holds a 9-1 record in four-set matches
* The Gators hold a 3-0 record in Saturday matches
* Florida remains unbeaten in November at 6-0
* Kennedy Martin’s 29 Kills continues her streak of recording double-digit kills in every match she has played wearing the Orange and Blue (48 Matches)
* Elli McKissock ranks 2nd for career digs (2,069), 8th for career aces (141) and 21st for career assists (524) in Program history
* Taylor Parks ranks 19th for career assists in Program history with 708
Thoughts from Coach Wise
* “Such a great opportunity for us to play a team out of the conference. The experience of UCF and all of their seniors will only help us going forward.”
Up Next
* The Gators return to conference action with two road matches to close out regular-season play. Florida heads to South Carolina for a redemption matchup against the Gamecocks on Wednesday, Nov. 27. Match time is slated for 2 p.m. ET inside the Carolina Volleyball Center. Florida faces the Gamecocks for the second time this season, having been swept at home on Oct. 13. Since their loss, the Gators have won 10-straight matches.
* Fans can stream the match live on SEC Network+ as well as follow @GatorsVB on socials for match updates. Additionally, live stats are of the match can be found on volleyball’s schedule page on FloridaGators.com.
No. 20 Florida (21-5, 11-3 SEC) vs. South Carolina (15-9, 6-7 SEC)
Wednesday, Nov. 27 | 2 p.m. ET
Carolina Volleyball Center – Columbia, S.C.
SECN+<https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/48407270-4147-4635-987f-bdfa94931a0f> | Live Stats<https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=529059&vislive=fla>
Series Information
* Series Record 64-11 (56-5 under Wise)
* 3-set: 47-3; 4-set: 13-4; 5-set: 4-3
* Home: 33-2; Away: 29-7; Neutral: 2-1
* Last time out: Oct. 13, 2024 | L, 0-3 | H | 25-21, 25-18, 25-17
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