MATCH STATS
- No. 4 Florida def. Tennessee 3-0 925-23, 25-19, 25-20)
- Florida moves to 20-1, 12-1 SEC; Tennessee falls to 11-11, 4-9 SEC
- Knoxville, Tennessee
- Attendance: 840
- Box Score
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Senior middle blocker Rhamat Alhassan became the Gators all-time blocking leader as No. 4 Florida notched its 20th win of the season in a road sweep of Tennessee on Sunday.
Alhassan put up six blocks to surpass the previous record of 601 held by Benavia Jenkins (200-03). The stuffs helped the Gators to a 13-4 lead in blocks, limiting the Vols to a .053 hitting effort.
Sophomore middle Rachael Kramer led the way at the net with seven stuffs to go with 11 kills, while senior outside hitter Carli Snyder (12) and redshirt senior outside Shainah Joseph (10) joined Kramer with double-digit kill efforts. Snyder rounded out a double-double with 13 digs and four blocks. Redshirt junior setter Allie Monserez also posted a double-double with 27 assists and 11 digs. Senior libero Caroline Knop topped the backcourt with 18 saves.
Redshirt sophomore outside Breana Jeter was the top hitter for the Vols with eight kills, while junior middle Erica Treiber (6), sophomore middle Alyssa Andreno (5) and freshman outside Madison Coulter (4) followed. Treiber also added a team-high three blocks. Junior libero Brooke Schumacher pulled up a match-high 20 digs, while sophomore setter Sedona Hansen added 17 to go with her 10 assists.
Set 1 was a back-and-forth affair. Florida grabbed a 10-7 lead with a 3-0 run including a kill and a block by Kramer. Tennessee answered with five straight points, on two Treiber kills and three Gator miscues. Florida went up by two at 15-13 on an ace by Snyder. The teams tied at 15, 18, 20 and 21. A pair of blocks by Kramer pushed the Gators up 23-21, but a pair of miscues knotted the score at 23. Kramer and Mia Sokolowski came through with the final two points to grab Florida the win.
The Gators built a seven-point edge (10-3) in Set 2 and never looked back, holding the Vols at least three points away the rest of the stanza. Three Kramer kills and a trio of Alhassan stuffs, the first of which gave her the record, in the early run. Down seven again at 16-9 after a pair of Snyder putaways, Tennessee rallied with six of the next eight points. Andreno downed two kills and Olivia Schwamberger added a kill and a block to slice the deficit to three at 18-15. The Gators closed out the set on a 7-4 run including three Vol miscues and capped by two Snyder putaways.
Florida cruised to a 12-5 lead in Set 3 as Joseph and Snyder combined for five kills and Alhassan chipped in two blocks and a kill. Tennessee would not go away quietly, however, using a 10-3 run to tie things up at 15-all. Five Gator miscues and a pair of aces aided the Vols in the surge. The teams tied at 17 and 18 before Florida pulled away for good with a final 7-2 run. Joseph and Alhassan downed two kills apiece in the final stretch of the 25-20 victory.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy: Florida Athletics
The No. 4 Gators (20-1, 12-1 SEC) won their sixth consecutive match and logged their fourth straight sweep Sunday afternoon at Tennessee, while three-time All-American Rhamat Alhassan broke Florida’s 14-year-old school record for career total blocks.
Although Florida’s offense only finished with a .226 hitting percentage, three Gators posted double-digit kills. Senior outside hitter Carli Snyder posted her seventh double-double of the season, tallying a match-high 12 kills and 13 digs. Sophomore middle blocker Rachael Kramer totaled 11 kills and a match-high seven blocks, amounting to 14.5 points. Fifth-year senior right side Shainah Joseph tallied 10 kills, six of which came in the third set.
Alhassan, who finished with six blocks, broke a tie with Benavia Jenkins (2000-03) to become the program’s all-time blocks leader at the 6-3 point of the second set. It was the 602nd block of her career. The Glenarden, Md., native also hit .400 with five kills on 10 total attempts.
https://twitter.com/GatorsVB/status/927251991017017349/photo/1
Along the back line, senior libero Caroline Knop had a team-high 18 digs, while redshirt junior setter Allie Monserez had a double-double with 11 digs and 27 assists.
The victory also keeps Florida atop the Southeastern Conference standings, as they lead Kentucky by a half-game.
NOTABLES
- Florida was held below a .230 hitting percentage for only the fourth time this season
- Carli Snyder has 18 double-doubles in her last two seasons after not recording seven altogether as an underclassman
- Snyder’s four blocks tied her career high—a figure she has reached on seven occasions
- Rachael Kramer’s seven blocks tied her three-set career high, which she logged against Georgia earlier this year (Oct. 8)
- Mia Sokolowski’s four blocks were a career high, topping her previous high of three in a five-set win over Nebraska earlier this year (Aug. 26)
- Shainah Joseph recorded the seventh 10-kill match of her career—six of those outings have come this year
- Joseph posted the 12th 10-point match of her career—eight of those outings have come this year
- Florida improved its all-time record against Tennessee to 50-12, and to 46-7 under head coach Mary Wise
(COACH) WISE’S WORDS
Head coach Mary Wise’s overall thoughts on the sweep…
“In typical Tennessee fashion, they were well prepared and played very hard. We got a little impatient offensively, but credit Tennessee for their ability to stay in rallies. Offensively, it was a night where we really only scoring points from Rachael (Kramer) and Carli (Snyder).
Coach Wise on Carli’s all-around performance…
“Early on when we weren’t getting blocks, Carli was our best point producer—both from an offensive standpoint, as well as blocking.”
Coach Wise on Rhamat breaking Benavia Jenkins’ school record…
“Benavia played in the 30-point era, too. To be the school’s all-time block leader, in the 25-point scoring era … Rhamat is doing exactly what we all knew would happen when she came to Florida, and that’s that she would leave her mark in the record book.”
UP NEXT
Florida returns home for a Friday night clash with Arkansas, as well as a Sunday matchup with Missouri, which will also be the Gators’ senior day. For more information on these matches, follow this link to the Gators’ schedule page.
Courtesy: Tennessee Athletics
Tennessee dropped a hard-fought match to the No. 4 ranked Florida Gators 3-0 (25-23, 25-19, 25-20) Sunday afternoon at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Sedona Hansen recorded her 12th double-double of the season with 10 assists and 17 digs for the Lady Vols (11-11, 4-9 SEC). Breana Jeter led the team with eight kills and a .263 hitting percentage.
Florida (20-1, 12-1 SEC) took a tight opening set 25-23. The Gators opened up on a 4-1 run before the Lady Vols would use a 5-0 run initiated by a kill by Erica Treiber to take their first lead of the set at 12-10. Each team would go on separate runs and tie the match up six times following that point. Jeter and Treiber each had three kills for Tennessee in the opening set.
The Gators took the lead early in the second set behind a 10-3 start and never looked back. Tennessee got as close as four points on two different occasions but the Gators 13 kills and .282 hitting percentage was enough to win the second set 25-19.
Florida got off to another fast start in the third set but after trailing early the Lady Vols used a 4-0 run to tie the match up at 15 and get back in the set. The two teams would trade points back and forth with each team going on separate runs but the Gators took their final lead off a kill by Rhamat Alhassan to make the score 19-18. Florida would go to finish the match on a 6-2 run to take the set 25-20 and the game.
The Gators had three players finish with double-digit kills with Carli Snyder leading the way with 11 kills and add 13 digs for a double-double. Rachael Kramer and Shainah Joseph also had double-digit kills of 11 and 10. Florida also had 13 blocks as a team in the win.
Tennessee will make their final road trip of the season when they travel to Auburn on Thursday, Nov. 9 and then at Alabama on Sunday, Nov. 12.
Leave a Reply