MATCH STATS
- #3 Florida def. N.C. State 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-22)
- Florida moves to 3-0; N.C. State falls to 0-4
- Bayamon, Puerto Rico
- Attendance: 1,020
- Box Score
The Gators hit at a .354 clip in the match, including a .500 effort in Set 2, while limiting NC State to a .172 effort. Florida also won every other statistical category, besting the Wolfpack in kills (48-33), aces (5-2), blocks (8-6) and digs (45-29).
Senior outside hitter Carli Snyder put down a match-high 14 kills, while senior middle blocker Rhamat Alhassan and redshirt senior outside Shainah Joseph followed with nine kills apiece. Alhassan hit at a team-best .750 clip with 12 errorless swings, while Joseph also went without an error in 15 swings. Sophomore middle Rachael Kramer added seven kills and a team-leading six blocks, while Joseph added four stuffs. Senior libero Caroline Knop pulled up a team-best 17 digs.
Freshman opposite Melissa Evans led the way for the Wolfpack with 11 kills and a .436 hitting percentage. Senior middle Kaitlyn Kearney was next on the team with seven putaway, while senior outside Julia Brown and senior outside Bree Bailey added five apiece. Bailey served up both of the team’s aces. Brown, Kearney and junior middle Teni Sopitan put up two blocks apiece. Redshirt sophomore libero Makenzie Kuchmaner paced the defense with 12 digs.
The Gators raced out to an 11-4 lead in the match. Allie Gregory and Alhassan served up aces and Alhassan and Joseph downed two kills apiece in the early going. NC State answered with a 4-0 run, with help from two Evans putaways, to narrow the gap to three at 11-8. The teams traded runs, a 4-0 effort by the Gators and a 4-1 stand by the Wolfpack to bring the score to 16-12. Florida pushed the set out of reach with a 7-2 run, including four NC State miscues. An Alhassan kill gave UF its first set-point try at 24-16 and a stuff by Kramer and Snyder clinched the victory at 25-17.
NC State scored five of the first eight points in Set 2, but the lead was short-lived as the Gators responded with a 12-4 run, including six Snyder putaways. Snyder scored three kills in a row to make it 12-7, then Joseph and Alhassan chipped in putaways and Gregory managed an ace to wrap up the stretch at 15-9. Snyder continued to thrive in the stanza with two more kills and an ace to push ahead 23-14. The Wolfpack stopped the Gators momentarily with two points, but Mia Sokolowski and Snyder did the honors with two kills to wrap up the 25-16 win.
Florida led 13-7 midway through Set 3 as seven different players posted kills. NC State would no go quietly, however, scoring 11 of the next 15 to turn the deficit into a one-point advantage at 18-17. Six players put down kills and Bailey served up an ace as the Wolfpack erased the margin. The Gators responded with a 7-2 run of their own, including two kills each by Kramer and Snyder, to set up match point at 24-20. A pair of Bailey kills prolonged the set, but Kramer put down the final nail in the sweep.
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