Sophomore Florida right-side/setter Kelly Murphy had her fourth triple-double of the season and outside hitters Kristy Jaeckel and Colleen Ward combined for 36 kills to lead the No. 6 Florida Gators volleyball team to a 3-1 (24-26, 25-19, 25-23, 25-15) victory at South Carolina Wednesday night.
Murphy’s fourth triple-double of the season is also the 10th triple-dip of her career and was comprised of 12 kills, 25 assists and 17 digs to complement five blocks. The sophomore is the school’s all-time career triple-doubles leader and the only player in the SEC this season to have charted even one triple-double on the 2009 campaign.
Ward scored a career-high 18 kills and seven digs in the match. Jaeckel also added 18 kills.
The Gators (12-2, 6-1 SEC) won the blocking battle by their largest margin of the season, 12-5, and have now out-blocked their opponents in three of the last four matches.
“I think the difference in this match was our blocking,” Florida head coach Mary Wise said.
Junior setter Brynja Rodgers had a team-high 28 assists. Senior libero Elyse Cusack turned in a team-high 18 digs to mark the 99th double-figure dig match of her career. She now has 1,848 career scoops and ranks third all-time in SEC history. Sophomore middle blocker Cassandra Anderson tied her career high with 10 blocks, matching her personal best recorded at Columbia last season.
The Gators return to action Sunday at Baton Rouge against the LSU Tigers at 7 p.m. on ESPNU.
WOMEN’S ITA ALL-AMERICAN: Florida’s Marrit Boonstra, Lauren Embree and Allie Will combined for a 4-0 record on the first day of action in the main draw of the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships Thursday at the Riviera Tennis Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
The Gator trio won their respective singles matches in the 32-player draw, while Embree and Will paired to capture their first-round doubles match in the 16-team draw.
Boonstra, the No. 3 seed in the prestigious national event, downed Arizona’s 29th-ranked Natasha Marks, 6-2, 6-3, in the first round and plays California’s 18th-ranked Marina Cossou Friday.
Embree played her way through the qualifying draw and is now in the round of 16, after earning an impressive 6-3, 6-3 victory over SMU’s 39th-ranked Marta Lesniak. The Gator freshman plays North Carolina’s 12th-ranked Sanaz Marand next.
Will actually began her tournament in the pre-qualifying event and now joins her Gator teammates in the round of 16, as she topped Boise State’s 47th-ranked Pichittra Thongdach, 6-3, 6-3. Will takes on Stanford’s fifth-ranked Hilary Barte Friday.
On the doubles court, Embree and Will defeated Virginia’s 20th-ranked team of Jennifer Stevens and Emily Fraser, 8-3. UF’s freshmen tandem will play Georgia Tech’s 11th-ranked team of Amanda McDowell and Irina Falconi in quarterfinals.
MEN’S ITA ALL-AMERICAN: Florida’s No. 23 Alexandre Lacroix won his first-round singles match against California’s No. 42 Pedro Zerbini, 6-2, 6-4, as the main draw of the D’Novo/ITA All-American Tennis Championships opened Thursday at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla.
Lacroix advances to the Round of 32, where he will face either 84th-ranked Drew Courtney of Virginia or Louisville’s Austen Childs, rated No. 12 in the nation. Lacroix now stands at a perfect 4-0 this fall, including 2-0 against ranked opponents.