Match Stats
- Florida wins 3-1 (24-26, 25-12, 25-15, 25-16)
- Florida improves to 11-1, Ole Miss drops to 11-3
Riding a 10-game win streak, the Florida Gators dropped an opening set to Ole Miss, but then rattled off three straight convincing set wins for its 11th straight and 11th overall win of the 2016 season.
Ole Miss pushed the Gators in front of a home Oxford, MS crowd, winning the opening set 26-24. But Florida’s defensive play kept the Gators in the hunt as Caroline Knop racked up 31 digs – the most in the libero’s career.
In addition, Allie Monserez had 54 assists and Carli Snyder notched 16 kills on the day.
Ole Miss got 16 kills of its own from Kathryn Cather along with 41 Audrey Edie assists, but just couldn’t hang with Florida in the final three sets, never reaching more than 16 points in an of the three.
Press Releases
Florida:
After falling to the Rebels in the opening set, 26-24, the Orange and Blue (11-1) stormed back to win the next three frames 25-12, 25-15, 25-16, and did so with a number of impressive performances.
Junior libero Caroline Knop stabilized a Gators defense with a staggering – and career high – 31 digs alongside a career high 12 scoops freshman Allie Gregory in the back row. Florida balanced the efforts with impressive offensive numbers. Another career night for redshirt sophomore setter Allie Monserez (54 assists) had four Florida offensive weapons with double-digit kills, including a fourth double-double this season for junior Carli Snyder (16 kills, 12 digs). A career high 12 kills for freshman middle Rachael Kramer, a team high 18.5 points for seniorAlex Holston, a .455 clip and just one attack error for Rhamat Alhassan and an error free seven kills and .467 clip for Shainah Joseph, both season highs, followed.
Three players had five or more blocks on the night – Alhassan (7.0), Holston (6.0) and Kramer (5.0) as UF posted their fourth double-digit block effort (14.0) in the last five matches.
The Rebels gave the Gators all they could handle in the first, holding a three-point advantage for much of the opening frame. Florida knotted the set a 20-20 on a Joseph kill and had set point at 24-23 on a slam from Snyder, but Ole Miss battled with ties at 20, 21, 23 and 24-all before a Rebel kill and Gator error resulted in a 26-24 win for Ole Miss.
The second, third and fourth frames were all Gators en route to career nights for a number of Florida players.
Florida caps the weekend with a tilt at Alabama Sunday. First serve is slated for 1 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.
WORDS FROM WISE
“Wins on the road this day and age are not easy to come by. We saw an Ole Miss team that played very well, but it took production by a lot of different players tonight, in particular the play of CK anchoring our defense.”
THE RECORDS
No. 6 Florida: 11-1
Ole Miss: 11-3
NOTABLES AND TRENDS
- Florida is now 41-0 all-time against Ole Miss, and boasts a 22-3 mark in Oxford following Friday’s victory
- With their SEC-opening win, UF is 416-45 (.902) all-time in SEC play, including a 390-23 mark under Mary Wise
- The Gators have now held nine of 12 opponents under a .200 clip, including Ole Miss (.132) in Friday action. Florida entered the weekend at No. 28 in opponent hitting efficiency in the NCAA (.153) and hit .370 against the Rebels,
- Defensively, the Orange and Blue have been stellar on serve-receive with six matches of one reception error or less, including just one against the Rebels
- Florida had 14 blocks to Ole Miss’ three, giving the Orange and Blue four double-digit block efforts in the last five matches, and six double-digit block matches so far this season
Florida will finish off its SEC opening weekend at Alabama Sunday at Foster Auditorium. Florida is undefeated all-time in program history against the Crimson Tide. The Gators own a 41-0 record against Bama, including a perfect 39-0 under Mary Wise. UF is 19-0 in Tuscaloosa.
Ole Miss:
OXFORD, Miss. – A great crowd was on hand Friday night at The Pavilion at Ole Miss for the volleyball team’s Southeastern Conference opener against No. 6 Florida. The Rebels gave them something to cheer about winning a competitive first set, before falling to the Gators 3-1 (26-24, 12-25, 15-25, 16-25).
Ole Miss falls to 11-3 overall and 0-1 in the SEC, while Florida improved to 11-1 and 1-0 league play.
The Rebels came out in the first set and went toe-to-toe with the Gators. They gained a 12-9 lead and maintained at least a two-point lead most of the way until the Gators tied it up at 20-20. The two teams traded points and Florida gained a set point at 24-23, but the Rebels won the final three points on a kill by junior outside hitter Lexi Thompson and sophomore right side hitter Kathryn Cather.
Ole Miss lost energy in the second, third and fourth sets, this resulted in the Rebels unable to close the block on either pin which allowed Florida to score deep cross court gaining momentum. After getting major production in the middle during non-conference play, the Rebels had trouble incorporating their middles against Florida, totaling just 22 attempts and three kills.
The pin hitters were senior Aubrey Edie’s go-to hitters tonight as Lexi Thompson, Kate Gibson and Kathryn Cather totaled 39 kills. Cather matched her career-high kills with 16, hitting .419. She was a terminator for the Rebels using her arm strength to deflect the Gators blockers.
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