Florida Gators volleyball defeats San Diego State

Special to GC on the Florida Gators volleyball team

HONOLULU, Hawaii -- A sweep of San Diego State Saturday at the Stan Sheriff Center capped off an 11-day road swing for the No. 2 Gator volleyball team, which improved to 6-1 with the victory over the Aztecs (25-18, 25-11, 25-10) to wrap up play at the Outrigger Resorts Volleyball Challenge on O'ahu.

After a back and forth opening frame against SDSU (2-7), the Gators used a time out down 15-13 and closed the set with a 12-3 run to quickly go up 1-0 in the match with a 25-18 first-set win.

With a 14-5 Florida advantage in the second, and the match in control for Florida, the Orange and Blue gave some of its younger players the opportunity at some quality experience. After 20 assists, a kill, six digs and a block, senior setter Mackenzie Dagostino gave way to sophomore setter Abby Detering, who shined in two sets for the Gators with a career-best 10 assists and two service aces. Detering also sent a kill over and posted three blocks for a career-best 4.5 points.

Freshman Taelor Kellum, who made her Florida debut against Eastern Washington Thursday, posted her first three blocks as a Gator, including one solo stuff in the final set of play.

Sophomore middle Rhamat Alhassan hit .643, had 10 kills and eight blocks for 14 points to lead all players on the floor. Alhassan has just four errors in UF's last five matches and has hit .470 or better in all five.

Senior libero Nikki O'Rourke was all over the floor Saturday and had the Gators set up to fire on all cylinders. O'Rourke has notched double-digit digs, including 12 Saturday, in three straight matches and in six of the Gators' seven matches so far this season after a career-best 25 Friday. Senior Živa Recek led all players on the floor with 13 digs and put down seven slams.

It was junior opposite Alex Holston who led the Gators on a 10-point service run in the third to give Florida a double-digit lead it wouldn't relinquish for the sweep. Florida held San Diego State to a negative hitting efficiency (-.040), it's second opponent this season under .100.

With seven matches under their belt -- all on the road -- the Gators finally return home to the friendly confines of the Stephen C. O'Connell Center Thursday, Sept. 17, for a match-up with St. John's. First serve between the Gators and Red Storm.

MARY'S MINUTE

"No team at Florida has ever been asked to do what this team has done in terms of the extended travel, the many miles. It's a grind and the way these players responded says so much about who they are as players. The story about today's match: obviously Rhamat continues to be such a huge presence at the net, but Abby Detering off the bench is one of the highlights of the entire trip."

NUMBERS OF NOTE

*         12.5 | Blocks for the Gators as a team. Florida now has double-digit roofs in six of seven matches so far in 2015. Florida had blocks from eight different players Saturday, highlighted by eight from Rhamat Alhassan

*         5 | Service aces for the Gators, compared to zero for San Diego State. Florida's six aces against Hawaii, and five Saturday, are its first and second most this season

*         3 | Florida's sweep against San Diego State (25-18, 25-11, 25-10) marked the Gators' third sweep of the 2015 season

*         1 | Error for Alhassan in three matches at the Outrigger Resorts Volleyball Challenge. Alhassan hit a season-best .667 against Eastern Washington and followed that with .643 Saturday

UP NEXT

At long last, and with seven road matches to open 2015, the Orange and Blue will return to the Stephen C. O'Connell Center Thursday, Sept. 17, for their home opener against St. John's. UF will then host top-25 opponent FSU Sept. 20 before getting conference play started at home Sept. 25 against Ole Miss.
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.