Florida Gators volleyball defeats Oregon

Special to GC

EUGENE, Ore. — A total team effort and a gutsy back-and-forth battle in the fourth set guided the No. 10 Gators to a 3-1 (25-16, 19-25, 25-16, 26-24) victory over host Oregon in Florida’s VERT Challenge finale Saturday night at Matthew Knight Arena.

With the Gators up 2-1 in the match, Oregon threatened to tie it in the fourth after getting out to a 7-2 lead, then working its way to set point at 24-21. Florida bucked down and persevered, outscoring the Ducks 8-2 down the stretch, including the final five points of the frame for UF’s first victory of 2016.

For the second consecutive match, junior outside hitter Carli Snyder posted a double-double (16k, 13d), while junior middle Rhamat Alhassan (12k, 8b) and senior right side Alex Holston (14k, 6b) tied for the team lead with 17.5 points against the Ducks — Holston with a career-tying six roofs, as the Gators moved to 1-1 on the young season.

Junior libero Caroline Knop, who scooped up a career high 19 digs to lead UF’s back row, added fire behind the service line for the Gators with three aces, contributing a six-point service run in the fourth before serving out the final four points of the match.

Florida hit .517 in the first set, .583 with just one error in an impressive third frame and posted 12 blocks to Oregon’s six.

It was a career night for a number of Gators in Eugene: sophomore middle blocker Taelor Kellum turned in a career match with 10.5 points on nine kills and three blocks, while redshirt sophomore Allie Monserez chalked up a career best 51 assists in setting the Gators to a .341 hitting efficiency on the evening including a .517 clip in the first set and a .583 hitting efficiency in the third. In her first start as a Gator, Morgyn Greer contributed seven kills and two blocks for the Orange and Blue.

WORDS FROM WISE

“When you look at the weekend, both matches combined, we had so many opportunities to grow, to get better. There were so many players playing new positions, new roles, expanded roles, different roles. Today, whether it was Morgyn Greer stepping in, whether it was Carli Snyder the entire weekend, Allie Monserez with a career high assists; you look up and down our very deep roster and can point out so many great contributions.”

THE RECORDS

No. 10 Florida: 1-1

Oregon: 0-2

NOTABLES

* Florida has played two matches of an eight-match road schedule to start 2016. Next up, the Spartan Invitational in East Lansing next weekend

* The VERT Challenge is in its second year of a four-year rotation between four power programs: Florida, Nebraska, Oregon and Texas. The Longhorns hosted last season, while Gators will host the 2017 VERT Challenge with Nebraska on tap in 2018

* READ: Scott Carter: Gators Have Challenge Review System Handy As Season Opens<http://www.floridagators.com/news/2016/8/25/scott-carter-gators-have-challenge-review-system-handy-as-new-season-opens.aspx>. Of note, both challenges in the Nebraska, Florida match resulted in overturned calls, as did a call Oregon call reversed

UP NEXT

The Gators will keep road swinging with a three-match road trip Sept. 3-4 to East Lansing, Michigan, for the Spartan Invitational. Florida will match up with Central Michigan, Morgan State and Michigan State in the two-day tournament.

Andrew Spivey
Andrew always knew he wanted to be involved with sports in some capacity. He began by coaching high school football for six years before deciding to pursue a career in journalism. While coaching, he was a part of two state semifinal teams in the state of Alabama. Given his past coaching experience, he figured covering recruiting would be a perfect fit. He began his career as an intern for Rivals.com, covering University of Florida football recruiting. After interning with Rivals for six months, he joined the Gator Country family as a recruiting analyst. Andrew enjoys spending his free time on the golf course and watching his beloved Atlanta Braves. Follow him on Twitter at @AndrewSpiveyGC.