Gator Country

Florida senior Kelly Murphy led the Gators with 17 assists in their win over Florida Atlantic in the Campus USA Credit Union Invitational. / Gator Country file photo by Tim Casey

In their second game of the Campus USA Credit Union Invite, the No. 9 Florida Gators defeated the Florida Atlantic Owls in three games (25-10, 25-10, 25-18), for their fifth consecutive sweep to start the season.

The Gators had played Jacksonville earlier in the day and managed to keep both of their opponents to a negative hitting percentage. Against the Owls, the Gators scored to an unbelievable .445 hitting percentage.

“It always feels good to connect with our setters,” senior Cassandra Anderson said. “And a lot of it has to do with our defense and passing the ball, making it easier for Kelly to set it. Of course, Kelly and Chanel are finding us.”

Senior setter/right-side hitter Kelly Murphy led the team with 7 kills. Anderson and fellow senior outside hitters Stephanie Ferrell, Kristy Jaeckel each had 6 kills. Freshman libero Taylor Unroe had 12 digs and sophomore middle blocker Chanel Brown added 5.

The two first sets were in the Gators’ control as they kept FAU to only scoring 10 points each in both of them.

The third set was much closer as the Gators had to fight to keep their lead as FAU kept the score close for much of the set. When the Gators pulled ahead 12-6, the Owls started slowly chipping away at points pulling within 2 at 16-14.

Kills by Santos-Lamb and Murphy gave the Gators an 18-15 edge over the Owls and that was when they pulled away for the rest of the set. The Owls only gained three more points in the set as the Gators closed it out 25-18.

“Today was a lot of fun,” Murphy said. “For the reason, we got to see a lot of faces out on the court. Everybody contributed a little bit. I thought everyone did a great job when they got out there, they stepped up and filled in their role really good.”

The Gators will face the Clemson Tigers tomorrow in the O’Connell Center at 4:00 PM in their third and final game in the Campus USA Credit Union Invite.

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