GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The No. 10 Gator volleyball squad used a career performance from junior middle blocker Simone Antwi to help defeat the Rebels in straight sets Sunday in Florida's SEC home opener at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. Florida (8-3) downed Ole Miss 25-13, 25-15, 25-19 to kick off the 2014 SEC schedule an undefeated 2-0 following the split weekend. The Gators hit .442 in the match, their highest efficiency in an SEC tilt since .529 at Alabama last October, behind Antwi's .769 clip, 11 kills on 13 swings with just one error. The Orange and Blue held the Rebels (14-2, 0-2 SEC) to a .197 hitting percentage, .000 in the first set, as Ole Miss became the sixth opponent this season that UF has forced to operate below a .200 hitting efficiency, including both league opponents so far. Antwi (11) and sophomore right side Alex Holston (12) both put down double-digit kills for the Orange and Blue and five other Gators joined Antwi with a .300 clip or higher, including freshman middle Rhamat Alhassan (.308), Holston (.455), junior outside hitter Gabby Mallette (.500), junior setter Mackenzie Dagostino (.800) on four dumps and freshman outside hitter Carli Snyder (.364). GETTING WISE "We know that the Ole Miss team that we'll play the second time in Oxford will look very different when they have their entire personnel. What we were able to do was take advantage of some match ups that may not be there the next time we play them. The play of our middles and our right side continue to lead us offensively and keeping our opponents to a low number of kills is our goal in each and every match." BY THE NUMBERS * 38: straight wins over the Rebels for the Gators under head coach Mary Wise. Florida is now 39-0 in three-set matches against Ole Miss and 21-0 at home against the Rebels * 26: kills for Ole Miss, the second-lowest for a Gator opponent this season (lowest: Georgia Southern - 20) * 12: kills for Alex Holston, her fifth consecutive match with double-digit slams. Holston's .455 attack percentage is her fourth time above .450, including UF's last three matches. Holston has now led UF in kills seven times in 2014 * 11: kills for Simone Antwi on 13 attacks, with just one error, the fifth double-digit kill match of the 2014 season for Antwi. Her .769 clip is a career-high percentage, besting her .706 performance against Stanford last season * 10: digs for senior libero Holly Pole to lead UF's defensive efforts. That makes seven straight matches for Pole with double-digit digs. Pole also had a 1.000 serving percentage for the third time this season with 11 serves, no errors and one service ace * 9: points off junior setter Mackenzie Dagostino's serve in the first set alone, including six straight to take the Gators up 7-1 early in set one. Dagostino then returned and served UF's first four points in set two against Ole Miss * 6: service aces for Florida, UF's fifth match this year with six or more aces. The Gators were led by Dagostino's four service aces, while freshman Rhamat Alhassan and senior libero Holly Pole also had one each * 2: blocks for Alhassan, her 10th time this season as UF's leading blocker * 1: reception error for the Gators, their third time in five matches with just one. UF had zero reception errors in its first two matches * .500: hitting efficiency for junior outside hitter Gabby Mallette, who had her best performance of the season with five kills on eight attacks and just one error. Mallette also had one block assist Sunday * .364: attack percentage for freshman Carli Snyder, her third-best performance this season from the floor and best through Florida's two SEC matches so far UP NEXT After its 2-0 Southeastern Conference start with wins over Auburn and Ole Miss, No. 10 Florida now hits the road for an away weekend at LSU and Mississippi State October 3 and 5. Both matches will air live on the SEC Network.
Florida's volleyball team / Gator Country photo by Curtiss Bryant