Junior Florida right-side/setter Kelly Murphy had 15 kills on .536 hitting and junior outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel added 11 kills to lead the second-ranked Florida Gators volleyball team to a 3-1 (25-16, 20-25, 25-22, 25-18) victory against No. 16 Louisiana State Friday in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
It was the eighth victory for the Gators (11-1, 4-0 SEC) over a Top 25 opponent (Florida is 8-1, losing only to then top-ranked Penn State). Florida hit .323 during the match, its third consecutive match better than .300. Meanwhile, the Gators limited LSU to just a .190 hitting efficiency. Florida has held all but two opponents this season under .200 hitting.
“LSU has been averaging over .280 hitting efficiency and showed why in the second set, when they had 20 kills and we just felt like we couldn’t even get a touch on the ball,” said Florida head coach Mary Wise, whose team plays host to SEC foe Arkansas Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in the O-Dome. “We held them to .190 and I felt the difference in the match was that our defense got better as the match went on. In sets three and four, we really played good defense, particularly in blocking.”
Murphy’s 15 kills came on 28 swings with no errors for a season-high .536 hitting efficiency with 15 assists, six digs and four blocks. Jaeckel’s 11 kills went with four digs and two service aces for 13.0 points. Jaeckel needs just five more attacks to become just the 20th player in school history to reach 2,000 career kills.
“I thought our main thing was that we got better in each set,” Jaeckel said. “I think they’re a really fast team and their speed overwhelmed us in the first two sets and as the match went on, we caught up to it and got used to it. That was the difference.”
Senior outside hitter Callie Rivers had eight kills and eight digs, while junior middle blocker Cassandra Anderson added six kills on .385 hitting with a match-high eight blocks.
Senior libero Erin Fleming had a match-high 20 digs, just one shy of her career-high 21 recorded against Penn State. Freshman setter Chanel Brown contributed a team-high 28 assists.
Sophomore right-side Tangerine Wiggs was one of three Gators with four or more blocks, finishing with four to go along with five kills, while senior middle blocker Lauren Bledsoe had five kills on .400 hitting with two service aces.
Louisiana State (13-1, 4-1 SEC) was led by three players with 12 or more kills, including a team-high 14 by Michele Williams.