SEC: Florida, Arkansas Win in 5; Kentucky, Missouri Sweep

SEC Roundup

• Oct. 5

Kentucky stayed perfect at 4-0 with a road sweep at Mississippi State, while Florida, Arkansas and Missouri won at home. The Gators and Razorbacks pulled out five set wins, with Florida hanging on for victory to move to 5-0 and Arkansas overcoming a 2-0 deficit for its first league win.

Updated Standings

Match of the Night:

Florida def. Texas A&M 3-2 (25-18, 25-22, 21-25, 22-25, 15-13)

• Florida moves to 14-3, 5-0 SEC; Texas A&M falls to 10-6, 3-1 SEC
• Box Score
• Texas A&M Recap / Florida Recap

Florida registered its 10th straight win, holding on to move past Texas A&M in five sets in a battle of SEC unbeatens in Gainesville, Florida, on Friday.

The Gators outhit the Aggies .256 go .236 and outdid them in blocks 10-6, but trailed 69-59 in kills and 9-7 in aces.

Holly Carlton (14), Paige Hammons (13) and Thayer Hall (10) led the way for Florida offensively, while Rachael Kramer added nine kills and Taelor Kellum turned in eight on a team-best .421 hitting effort. Carlton put up a team-best seven blocks, while Kellum and Kramer added five apiece.

Hollann Hans posted a career and match-high 32 kills and 11 digs to pace the Aggies, but her nearest help came from Samantha Sanders, who managed nine putaways. Makena Patterson and Camille Connor added six and five kills respectively, while each putting up three blocks.

The Gators won the first two sets, before dropping their first two sets of the SEC season, 25-21, 25-22.

Florida raced out to a 10-5 lead in the decisive fifth set, before staving off the Aggies one final time for victory. Four Texas A&M errors and three Carlton kills gave Florida the five-point advantage it needed in the last stanza. The Aggies sliced the margin to one at 11-10 with four kills and thwarted two match-point tries at 14-11 before succumbing. Up 14-13, the Gators called timeout and Hall came through to end the match. Florida hit .333, committing just one error in the final stanza.

Kentucky def. Mississippi State 3-0 (25-11, 25-10, 25-13)

• Kentucky moves to 10-4, 4-0 SEC; Mississippi State falls to 5-12, 1-3 SEC
• Box Score 
• Kentucky Recap / Mississippi State Recap

Kentucky used an efficient offensive effort, hitting at a season-best .537 clip for the match, including a final .824 effort, to move past Mississippi State. The Wildcats held the Bulldogs to a .068 hitting effort, marking the sixth straight match the team has held opponents under .200.

UK nearly doubled MSU’s offensive output, posting 41 kills to 21, while also outdoing the Bulldogs 8-2 in aces and 7-3 in blocks.

Of the eight players with a hitting attempt in the match, just two Wildcats committed an error. Brooke Morgan was a perfect 9-for-9, hitting at a 1.000 clip. Alli Stumler added eight putaways on a .667 effort. Leah Edmond chipped in seven kills and seven digs, but hit just .176 (7-4-17). Morgan and Madison Lilley paced the team at the net with three blocks apiece. Lilley also served up three aces.

Deja Robinson was tops offensively for Mississippi State, notching seven kills on a .308 hitting effort. Paige Shaw added five kills, while Amarrah Cooks and Taylor Haskins turned in three apiece. Cooks and Brooklyn Lochner put up three blocks each.

The teams tied seven times in Set 3, last at 8-all, before the Wildcats closed out the night with a 17-5 run. Four MSU miscues and aces by Lilley and Cameron Scheitzach aided the final rally, which saw Morgan tally five kills and a block. The Bulldogs thwarted two match-point tries at 24-12, before Edmond pounded down the final putaway.

Missouri def. South Carolina 3-0 (25-22, 25-11, 30-28)

• Missouri moves to 13-4, 3-2 SEC; South Carolina falls 13-2, 4-1 SEC
• Box Score
• South Carolina Recap / Missouri Recap

The Tigers stayed perfect at home, outdoing South Carolina in every way in a Friday sweep.

Missouri hit .402 for the match, including an eye-popping .778 effort (15-1-18) in Set 2, while limiting the Gamecocks to .208 effort with eight blocks (to 1). Six aces (to 3) also kept South Carolina off balance. The Tigers also piled up 49 kills to 36 for the Gamecocks.

Kylie Deberg paced Mizzou with 16 kills, while four other players added six or more putaways. Alyssa Munlyn posted 10 kills, while hitting at an errorless .556 clip (10-0-18) and putting up a team-high four blocks. Tyanna Omazic (8), Leketo Member-Meneh (8) and Darian Hollingsworth (6) followed offensively.

Brittany McLean led the Gamecocks with eight kills on a .294 hitting effort. Claire Edwards, Mikayla Shields and Mikayla Robinson chipped in six putdowns apiece. Shields added in a team-best eight digs, while Robinson hit at a team-high .333 clip (6-2-12).

Set 3 featured 19 ties and nine lead changes, although neither side led by more than three at any time. South Carolina used a 3-0  run, including kills by Edwards and Jess Vastine to go up 16-13. Missouri answered with an 8-3 run including two kills and two blocks by Munlyn to go up 21-19. The Gamecocks had the first shot at the set at 24-23. The Tigers called timeout and earned a try of their own at 25-24 then thwarted two South Carolina efforts (26-25, 27-26). Mizzou ended the night on a 4-1 run with a kill and a block by Munlyn and two Hollingsworth putaways.

Arkansas def. Ole Miss 3-2 (24-26, 22-25, 25-22, 25-19, 15-13)

• Arkansas moves to 7-8, 1-4 SEC; Ole Miss falls to 10-8, 0-4 SEC
• Box Score
• Arkansas Recap / Ole Miss Recap

Arkansas rallied from down 2-0 to win three straight sets to claim its first SEC win of the year.

Ole Miss won the block (10-7), but trailed in kills (71-62), aces 96-2) and hitting efficiency (.233 to .200).

Hailey Dirrigl notched a match-high 22 kills, 13 digs and three aces to lead a group of four Razorback hitters in double digits. Kelly O’Brien (17), Logan Brown (16) and Elizabeth Pamphile (14) followed. O’Brien hit at a .400 clip, while Pamphile put up a team-leading six blocks. Okiana Valle pulled up 32 digs.

Emily Stroup posted 20 kills and 22 digs to guide the Rebels, while Caitlin Wernentin chipped in 17 putaways. Bayleigh Scott led the team at the net with six blocks, while Jordan Fate chimed in with a 26-assist, 13-dig double-double.

The teams tied eight times in Set 5, last at 9-all, before the Razorbacks closed out the comeback win with a final 6-4 push. Arkansas gained separation with a 4-0 run, including two Dirrigl putaways, to make it 13-9. A Pamphile putaways put the Razorbacks on the hill at 14-11. Stroup posted two kills to keep the match going. A Brown putaway marked the final blow in the home victory.

Next Up

• Florida plays host to Georgia at 1 p.m. ET Sunday.
• South Carolina welcomes Texas A&M at 1:30 p.m. ET Sunday.
• Mississippi State heads to Tennessee at 1:30 p.m. ET Sunday.
• LSU takes on Ole Miss at 2:30 p.m. ET Sunday.
• Alabama battles at Auburn at 2:30 p.m. ET Sunday.
• Arkansas travels to Columbia for a 2:30 p.m. ET contest with Missouri on Sunday.