Mary Wise’s top-ranked Florida volleyball team was certainly ready for its prime-time battle with No. 21 Tennessee Wednesday night.
Junior Florida outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel recorded a team-high 12 kills on .346 hitting to lead the Gators to a 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-20) Southeastern Conference victory in the match televised by ESPNU from the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
With the victory, Florida (17-1, 10-0 SEC) concluded the first half of the SEC race with a 10-0. The Gators also improved their record against teams in the Top 25 to 9-1 this season. Florida has played one of the toughest schedules in the nation this season and is rated No. 1 in the latest NCAA Ratings Percentage Index (RPI).
“I think tonight really lived up to it’s billing in terms of a really competitive match,” Florida head coach Mary Wise said. “Our fans got to see one of the premier players not only in the league, but also in the country. Nikki Fowler is a terrific talent and obviously gave us fits as she has for her entire career. Things kind of went our way tonight, especially at the end of the first and second set. In the third set, Tennessee was up but the consecutive blocks by Tangerine Wiggs really were the difference-maker and from that point on we got the separation.”
The Gators hit .318 on the match, marking the eighth time this season that Florida has hit better than .300 in a single match. Florida held Tennessee hit .219 on the evening. The Volunteers (15-5, 7-4 SEC) were led by Fowler’s 15 kills on .400 hitting with 10 digs for her 11th double-double of the season.
Senior outside hitter Callie Rivers had nine kills and seven kills, while junior right-side/setter Kelly Murphy added a match-high 15 digs, seven kills, 17 assists and a match-high two service aces for 9.5 points.
“We knew that they were a fast offensive team, so our defense communication especially was going to be huge,” Murphy said. “We tried to touch as many balls as we could and get everything up and back to the other side of the net.”
Junior middle blocker Cassandra Anderson had seven kills on a team-best .455 hitting efficiency, while sophomore right-side Tangerine Wiggs recorded six kills on 17 swings with no errors for a .353 hitting efficiency with four blocks. It marked Wiggs’ fourth errorless match of the season. Senior middle blocker Lauren Bledsoe added five kills and four blocks. Freshman setter Chanel Brown handed out a match-high 19 assists.
Florida had a 14-12 lead in the first set when Jaeckel had a kill and Murphy had a service ace for a 16-12 Florida advantage. After Tennessee cut the lead to 17-16, Florida maintained control. Leading 21-19, Murphy and Jaeckel had kills to put the Gators up 23-19 and Murphy’s kill provided the winning point, 25-20.
The second set was a battle as well. At 17-all, Florida had a 3-0 run highlighted by a pair of Anderson kills and another by Murphy. But the Lady Vols wouldn’t go away, again tying the match at 21-21. A Jaeckel kill and Murphy ace put the Gators up 23-21 and Florida wrapped up a 25-23 second-set victory on another Murphy kill.
Tennessee jumped to an 8-4 lead in the third set but Florida battled back with five straight points, highlighted by three kills and a block from Bledsoe and Watts for a 9-8 Gators lead. LSU came right back to take a 10-9 lead, but another 5-0 Florida run, highlighted by a Rivers kill and a block by Wiggs and Anderson, put Florida in the lead again at 14-10. A Bledsoe kill and two Tennessee errors gave Florida a 20-13 lead. The Lady Vols closed to 21-18 but Florida then closed out the match, with Anderson recording the match-clinching point with a kill.
Florida plays host to Kentucky Sunday at the O’Connell Center. First serve is at 1:30 p.m.
SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE STANDINGS
EASTERN DIVISION SEC/Overall
(1) Florida 10-0/17-1
(21) Tennessee 7-4/15-5
Kentucky 5-5/11-9
Georgia 3-7/11-10
South Carolina 1-8/4-15
WESTERN DIVISION SEC/Overall
(17) Louisiana State 8-2/17-2
Mississippi 8-2/14-5
Auburn 6-4/15-7
Arkansas 3-7/9-12
Mississippi State 3-7/11-10
Alabama 1-9/9-11
RESULTS
Wednesday / Oct. 20
Florida 3, Tennessee 0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-20)
Mississippi State 3, Alabama 1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-18, 27-25)
SCHEDULE
Friday / Oct. 22
Louisiana State at Georgia, 7 p.m.
Kentucky at South Carolina, 7 p.m.
Mississippi at Mississippi State, 8 p.m.
Arkansas at Auburn, 8 p.m.
Sunday / Oct. 24
Kentucky at Florida, 1:30 p.m.
Arkansas at Georgia, 1:30 p.m.
Tennessee at South Carolina, 1:30 p.m.
Mississippi at Alabama, 1:30 p.m.
Louisiana State at Auburn, 2:30 p.m.
Wednesday / Oct. 27
South Carolina at Florida, 7 p.m. (ESPNU)
Louisville at Tennessee, 7 p.m.
Friday / Oct. 29
Florida at Mississippi, 8 p.m.
Georgia at Kentucky, 7 p.m.
Auburn at Tennessee, 7 p.m.
Mississippi State at Louisiana State, 8 p.m.
Alabama at Arkansas, 8 p.m.
Sunday / Oct. 31
Auburn at Kentucky, 1 p.m. (FSN)
Georgia at Tennessee, 2 p.m. (CSS)
Mississippi State at Arkansas, 2:30 p.m.
Alabama at Louisiana State, 2:30 p.m.
South Carolina at Mississippi, 2:30 p.m.
For the latest Bison/American Volleyball Coaches Association Division I coaches poll, click below:
http://www.ncaa.com/sports/w-volley/division_i1.html
For the latest 2010 NCAA Women’s Volleyball RPI rankings, click below:
http://web1.ncaa.org/app_data/weeklyrpi/2010WVBrpi1.html