Cassandra Anderson and Tangerine Wiggs combined for 16 kills on .615 hitting and five blocks to direct a balanced Florida offensive attack that led the No. 3 Gators to a 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-19) Southeastern Conference women’s college volleyball victory against Mississippi Sunday at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
The Gators (10-1, 3-0 SEC) posted their fifth consecutive victory, hit .338 as a team and limited Ole Miss (9-4, 3-1 SEC) to just a .140 hitting percentage. Florida utilized a balanced offensive attack that featured six players with five or more kills apiece.
“To beat a team that was 3-0 in the conference and had won seven straight really speaks well for our production today,” Florida head coach Mary Wise said. “We only hit two balls out of bounds in 85 swings – that’s pretty stellar offense. I felt like there are some areas in which we are going to have to get much better before we play Ole Miss in Oxford in a month, but I trust that we will do that.”
Wiggs led the Gators with nine kills on 16 swings with no errors for a .562 hitting efficiency and added two blocks for a match-high 10.0 points. It was Wiggs’ second consecutive match without an error and her third errorless match this season.
“Tangerine has a length and a contact point that’s pretty difficult to defend because she’s so long,” Wise said. “She is getting much better in terms of expanding her hitting window – and we’re just scratching the surface there. I think Tangerine has got the ability where she’s going to be able to get kills at lots of different tempos from antenna to antenna. And, with her length, that could be really hard to guard.”
Anderson also was errorless in the match with seven kills on 10 swings for a .700 hitting efficiency with three blocks. For Anderson, it was her third consecutive match with no errors and her fourth errorless match of the season.
“I think the story of the match is Cassandra Anderson,” Wise said. “This is her third match in a row without a hitting error. The analogy would be like that of a baseball player who just goes on a tear, and that’s what Cass has done these last three matches.”
Senior outside hitter Callie Rivers led the team’s defensive effort with 10 digs to complement seven kills on .375 hitting, while junior right-side/setter Kelly Murphy charted six kills, a team-high 18 assists and five digs to go along with two blocks.
Junior outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel and senior middle blocker Lauren Bledsoe each added five kills, while Bledsoe posted a match-high four blocks. Senior libero Erin Fleming had nine digs, while freshman setter Chanel Brown contributed 16 assists.
Florida returns to action Friday against No. 17 Louisiana State. The first serve comes at 7 p.m. in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
SEC VOLLEYBALL STANDINGS
SEC (Overall)
Eastern Division
Florida 3-0 (10-1)
Kentucky 2-1 (8-6)
Tennessee 2-2 (10-3)
Georgia 1-3 (9-6)
South Carolina 0-2 (3-10)
Western Division
Louisiana State 4-0 (13-0)
Arkansas 3-1 (9-6)
Mississippi 2-1 (9-4)
Auburn 1-2 (11-5)
Alabama 0-3 (8-5)
Mississippi State 0-3 (8-6)
RESULTS
Sunday, Sept. 26
No. 3 Florida 3, Mississippi 0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-19)
No. 24 Kentucky 3, Georgia 2 (21-25, 20-25, 28-26, 25-19, 15-13)
No. 20 Tennessee 3, Auburn 1 (25-15, 21-25, 25-22, 25-19)
No. 17 Louisiana State 3, Mississippi State 0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-14)
Arkansas 3, Alabama 1 (25-21, 21-25, 25-19, 25-20)
South Carolina 3, The Citadel 1 (25-20, 25-18, 24-26, 25-11)
Friday, Sept. 24
Auburn 3, No. 24 Kentucky 2 (27-25, 18-25, 25-20, 17-25, 12-15)
Mississippi 3, South Carolina 0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-18)
Georgia 3, No. 20 Tennessee 2 (25-17, 25-23, 10-25, 25-27, 15-10)
No. 17 Louisiana State 3, Alabama 0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-22)
Mississippi State 3, Arkansas 2 (23-25, 25-13, 26-24, 17-25, 18-16)
Wednesday, Sept. 22
No. 3 Florida 3, No. 13 Florida State 0 (25-23, 31-29, 25-21)
SCHEDULE
Wednsday, Sept. 29
No. 24 Kentucky at No. 20 Tennessee, 8 p.m. (ESPNU)
Friday, Oct. 1
No. 17 Louisiana State at No. 3 Florida, 7 p.m.
Alabama at Georgia, 7 p.m.
Arkansas at South Carolina, 7 p.m.
Mississippi at No. 20 Tennessee, 7 p.m.
Mississippi State at Auburn, 8 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 3
Arkansas at Florida, 1:30 p.m.
Mississippi State at Georgia, 1 p.m. (FSN)
Mississippi at Kentucky, 1:30 p.m.
Louisiana State at South Carolina, 1:30 p.m.
Alabama at Auburn, 2:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 6
Georgia at Auburn, 8 p.m. (ESPNU)