#2 Florida Stays Atop SEC With Sweep of Texas A&M as Alhassan Hits .765

MATCH STATS

• #2 Florida def. Texas A&M 3-0 (25-18, 25-22, 25-20)
• #2 Florida improves to 23-1 (15-1, SEC); Texas A&M falls to 7-15 (4-11, SEC)
• College Station, Texas (SEC Match)
• Attendance: 1,286
• Box Score

College Station, Texas – #2 Florida moved one step closer to an SEC title with a sweep of Texas A&M in College Station, as winning out clinches at least a share of the 2017 conference crown.

With her final regular season coming to its end, Rhamat Alhassan dominated the Aggies from the middle and on slides as she led the match with 13 kills and hitting .765. Part of that was because of Texas A&M’s concentration on slowing down the pins – mainly Carli Snyder who was held to a .143 mark despite recording a double-double (10 kills, 10 digs). With Alhassan in the middle, Florida was able to hit .287.

On the defensive end, Alhassan was key again with five blocks as the Gators had five more team blocks (9-4). The combination of that and a more aggressive serve stymied the Aggies to a .128 clip.

It was apparent Florida came to play early, as they led coast-to-coast in the opening set. One scare for Florida came in that opening set, as 6’8″ middle blocker Rachael Kramer (seven kills, .312, four blocks) went down with some sort of injury. However, she quickly returned to the action in the second set to ease any questions as the Gators won the tightest of sets with five of the final seven in a 25-22 win.

The third and final set wasn’t as close as the second, but Kiara McGee (12 kills, .235, nine digs) and Camille Conner (23 assists, six kills, .364, three digs, two blocks) helped Texas A&M to an early tie at 6-6. From there though, Florida slowly pulled away and eventually Alhassan put down the final kill.

Florida now will wait a week before their next game as they face Auburn for senior day before a road trip to Missouri. For Texas A&M, they finish up their week by hosting South Carolina.

PRESS RELEASES:

Courtesy of Florida:

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 3 Gators (23-1, 15-1 SEC) turned in another ho-hum victory, sweeping Texas A&M to collect their ninth consecutive win. The victory gives Florida a one-game lead over Kentucky atop the Southeastern Conference standings, though the two teams are equal in the loss column.

Three-time All-American middle blocker Rhamat Alhassan led the offense with 13 kills and zero errors on 17 attempts, registering a .765 hitting percentage. The senior also finished with five total blocks (one solo) to log a match-high 16 points.

Senior outside hitter Carli Snyder was the only other Gator in double-figures, though she did so in double-double fashion, finishing with 10 kills and 10 digs. It was Snyder’s 10th double-double of the season and fourth in as many matches.

Other statistical standouts included sophomores Rachael Kramer and Cheyenne Huskey tallying four blocks apiece, senior libero Caroline Knop logging a team-high 13 digs, and freshman outside hitter Paige Hammons posting two service aces.

Florida’s offense hummed through the first two sets, hitting .343 and .375, respectively. Its defense took over in the third, holding Texas A&M to a -.026 hitting percentage. While the sets were relatively close in terms of score, there were only nine tie scores and two lead changes in the match.

NOTABLES

• Florida has held its opponent below a .185 hitting percentage in 22 of its 24 matches this season
• The Gators have held their opponents below a .100 hitting percentage in 33 of the 83 sets they have played this year (39.8 percent)
• Florida had five service aces, marking its 13th match this season in which it had at least five aces
• Rhamat Alhassan is one of two SEC players and the 23rd player in the nation to hit at least .765 with 15-19 attempts in a match this year
• Carli Snyder has 21 double-doubles in her last two seasons after recording seven altogether as an underclassman
• Florida improved its all-time record against Texas A&M to 14-1, including a 12-1 ark under head coach Mary Wise
• Wise now boasts 817 victories at Florida, surpassing SUNY Cortland head coach Joan Sitterly (1984-04) for the ninth-most wins at one school in NCAA history (all three divisions, first volleyball season in 1981)

UP NEXT
Florida has the weekend off and will return to action Wednesday against Auburn. First serve inside Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center is scheduled for 7 p.m., with ESPNU providing television coverage. Tom Collett and Josh Crow will have the radio call for ESPN Gainesville 98.1 FM / 850 AM.

Courtesy of Texas A&M:

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – No. 3 Florida kept its lead atop the Southeastern Conference standings with a 25-18, 25-22, 25-20 victory over Texas A&M tonight at Reed Arena.

The Gators’ three-time All-American middle blocker Rhamat Alhassan led all players with 13 kills without an error in 17 attempts for a .765 hitting efficiency as Florida improved to 23-1, including 15-1 in SEC matches only.

Senior outside hitter Kiara McGee led the Aggies with 12 kills, marking the sixth consecutive match she has posted double-figure kills, but A&M fell to 7-15 overall and 4-11 in SEC matches only.

Florida led the entire first set, jumping out to a 10-4 lead to force A&M head coach Laurie Corbelli to burn a timeout. The Aggies came out of the timeout and scored four unanswered to get within 10-8. A&M remained within two points at 14-12 but was unable to overcome the deficit, as the Aggies were outhit. 343 to .189.

Sophomore outside hitter Hollann Hans later got a thunderous kill courtesy of a nifty one-handed set by freshman setter Camille Conner to put A&M within 19-16 before Florida reeled off three consecutive points. Hans ended the run with her fifth kill of the set, but back-to-back A&M attack errors put the Gators at set point. McGee blasted down a ball that went untouched for her sixth kill in the frame, but the Aggies served out on the next play to end the set.

A&M scored the first three points of the second set, with Conner getting back-to-back kills to give the Aggies the early 3-0 lead. A&M held a 5-3 edge before Alhassan unleashed two kills and had a solo block during a 5-0 Gator run that gave Florida the 8-5 lead. The Gators continued to lead, 14-11, when McGee got two kills to spark a 3-0 run by the Aggies that tied the score, 14-14. A&M tied the score four more times, the last coming at 22-22 following a Florida attack that sailed long. The Gators, who outhit A&M .375 to .242 in the frame, then put away three consecutive kills to close out the set and take a 2-0 lead in the match.

A&M scored the first two points to open the third set, but Florida countered with a 5-0 run to take the lead. Although the Gators hit only .171 in the set, they never trailed the remainder of the match as they held A&M to a -.026 hitting percentage in the final frame.

Florida built its largest lead of the set at 20-13 following a four-point surge. The Aggies cut the margin to four points three times, the last coming at 24-20 before Alhassan put down the match-winning kill.

In addition to her offensive production, Alhassan had a match-high five blocks as Florida led A&M in team blocks, 9-4.

A&M senior defensive specialist Gabby Litwin was impressive, keeping alive numerous rallies as she finished with a match-high and a personal season-high 14 digs. Conner finished with 23 assists.

The Aggies conclude their home schedule and will be celebrating Senior Day, when they play host to the Gamecocks on Sunday. The match time has been changed to 11 a.m.

A&M seniors McGee, Litwin, Stephanie Aiple, Amy Nettles and Ashlie Reasor will be recognized after the match. In addition, it will be Daddy-Daughter Day with a special $12 package offered that includes two match tickets and a $12 concessions voucher. The special price is for advance sales only and will not available on game day. The deadline for purchase is Friday, Nov. 17 at 5 p.m.

Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M volleyball. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the A&M volleyball team on Facebook and on Twitter and Instagram by following @AggieVolleyball.

TEXAS A&M POSTMATCH QUOTES: 

HEAD COACH LAURIE CORBELLI

On how the team played tonight…
“I’d say spotty. I thought there were some runs of some really good in-system attacks that I thought we were going to start getting a rhythm off of, but we weren’t able to sustain those runs of high quality. That sometimes just doesn’t stick with us to keep the quality that I see them do every day in practice. There’s all the work that they put in, and then match time we just have to figure out how to connect our better plays and let it work in our favor. We didn’t have our middles this match, which obviously against their middles, that’s tough. Kiara [McGee] had a beautiful match, almost had a double-double, with one more dig. Gabby Litwin played a phenomenal match with her serve receive and her defense. She had a new match high with 14 digs and was really phenomenal. We were outmatched in a couple of categories just with experience. Our lack of experience showed a little bit.”

SENIOR OUTSIDE HITTER KIARA MCGEE

On how the team played…
“I feel like we fought, but in spurts. It came and went. Against the No. 3 team in the country things start to add up quickly. We can’t take a play off or forget assignments, and I feel like we did that quite a few times.”

On Senior Day coming up…
“I feel like it’s going to be exciting, and the seniors will have so much energy and drive. This is our last time to play in Reed Arena, so how do we want to leave our mark here. That’ll be fun.”