MATCH STATS
- #6 Florida Defeats Mississippi State (25-23, 25-18, 25-14)
- Team’s Record: Florida (22-2) (12-1 SEC), Mississippi State (12-15) (4-9 SEC)
- Schedules: Florida here, Mississippi State here
RECAP
The Florida Gators showcased why they are the top team in the conference (tied for first with Missouri) in their latest match against the Mississippi State Bulldogs, putting up some very clean numbers to get their twelfth SEC win of the season. They delivered 50 kills and only 4 errors for a .554 team attack percentage.
Rhamat Alhassan (13 kills, 5 blocks), Alex Holston (13 kills, 3 blocks) and Rachael Kramer (10 kills, 4 blocks) were team leaders for the Gators, contributing on both offense and defense. Allie Monserez was also an impact player, recording her fourth double-double of the season. Monserez had 42 assists to go along with her 11 digs.
The Bulldogs were led offensively by Evie Grace Singleton, who notched 13 kills. Following Singleton, Emily Hill and Jelena Vujcin contributed 8 kills apiece for Mississippi State. Riley Duzenack made her make with a team-high 20 assists, as well as a match-high 2 service aces.
Up next, both Florida and Mississippi State will play two matches this weekend. Florida returns home to Gainesville to play South Carolina and Alabama. Friday’s match (November 11th) against South Carolina will be played at 7 p.m., while Sunday’s (November 13th) against Alabama has yet to be determined. Mississippi, on the other hand, will play away against the Texas A&M Aggies and the LSU Tigers. They square off with the Aggies at 5 p.m. (CT) on Friday, and will play the Tigers on Sunday at 1 p.m.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy of Florida Athletics:
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Behind a blistering .554 hitting percentage, the No. 6-ranked Florida volleyball team dispatched Mississippi State University 3-0 (25-23, 25-18, 25-14) on Sunday, Nov. 6, inside the Newell-Grissom Building.
The Gators battled the Bulldogs through the initial set of the match as it featured 18 ties and seven lead changes but the Florida offense continued to assert itself in the following set to take control of the match 2-0. UF used an 8-3 run in the second set to take a 15-10 lead and the momentum in the match.
Rhamat Alhassan, Alex Holston and Rachael Kramer paced the Gators offense as the trio combined for 36 kills with only a single attack error in the match. Alhassan produced a season-high .800 hitting percentage (13/1/15) and was just shy of her career-high mark of .846.
Holston (13/0/21) and Kramer (10/0/14) went error free offensively in the match with hitting percentages of .619 and .714 respectively.
THE RECORDS
No. 6 Florida: 22-2, 12-1 SEC
Mississippi State: 12-15, 4-9 SEC
NOTABLES AND TRENDS
- Florida remains undefeated against Mississippi State and now holds and all-time record of 47-0.
- Today’s straight-set sweep of the Bulldogs marks the 44th time overall that the Gators have defeated Mississippi State in three sets and the 10th straight sweep dating back to 2010.
- Florida hit .554, marking the fifth time in the last five matches the Gators hit above .350
- The mark stands as the fourth highest hitting efficiency rating produced in a single match by a Gator squad.
- Tied for the fewest errors produced in a match this season as the team only committed four
- Gators only recorded four on Sept. 10, against Morgan State
- Entered today’s match ranked No. 13 nationally in blocks per set (2.86) and improved on that average with nine total in today’s match.
- For the fourth time in the last five matches, three-time All-American right side Alex Holston committed zero errors, and she registered 20-plus attacks in three of those four matches
- Today marked the fifth time this season freshman middle blocker Rachael Kramer hit .700 or above with at least eight total attacks
- First time this season she recorded double digit kills with no errors
- Allie Monserez turned in her fourth double-double of the season as she effectively distributed 42 assists and ripped up 11 digs in the three set match
WORDS FROM WISE
Florida head coach Mary Wise on Alex Holston‘s play…
“I’m not sure that I have seen that the roll she is on in terms of her offensive production. Some of her swings out of the back row are what we call ‘nasty’ – her swings are just angles that are crazy.”
UP NEXT
Florida returns to Gainesville for a pair of SEC rematches with South Carolina and Alabama. The Gators face USC on Friday (Nov. 11) at 7 p.m., while Sunday’s (Nov. 13) Alabama match time is still being determined. Sunday’s match with the Crimson Tide will be televised by the SEC Network.
Courtesy of Mississippi State Athletics:
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Closing out a two-match home stand, the Mississippi State Bulldogs (12-15, 4-9 SEC) fell in a tough battle against the sixth-ranked Florida Gators (22-2, 12-1 SEC) on Sunday afternoon at Newell-Grissom.
State went toe-to-toe with the Gators in the opening set of play. The Dogs opened up play with a 3-1 lead and pulled out in front a number of times during the period. Play went back and forth at the midway point up until the Gators took a late 23-21 lead. An Evie Grace Singleton kill and a Blossom Sato ace tied the set at 23-all, but a pair of Bulldog errors sealed the opening set for the visitors, 25-23.
Set two played tight in the early stages as well until a 6-1 run put the Gators in the lead for good. The Dogs put together a late rally, piecing together a 4-1 run to force a UF timeout. However, Florida earned three-straight points out of the break to seal the second set, 25-18. MSU was quick out of the gates in the third, but could not fend off the Gators, as they used a number of runs to close out the match with a 25-14 third-set victory.
“I’m very proud of this team for the fight they showed today,” MSU coach David McFatrich said. “We’ve hit a rough patch here of late, but they’re showing relentless effort in every match. We just have to keep battling and we’ll get through this rough stretch.”
Singleton once again starred for the Bulldogs, as she tallied a team-high 13 kills on the day. The Bulldog senior now has 10-plus kills in 13 of her last 15 matches. The setting duo of Riley Duzenack and Blossom Sato paced the MSU offense, as they tallied 20 and 16, respectively.
Duzenack also starred from the service line, as her pair of aces upped her season total to 24. She is now tied for 10th with Kimmy Gardiner (2013) and Sara Segar (1988) for aces in a season from a Bulldog rookie.
Jazmyne Johnson broke her tie on the MSU single-season blocks list on Sunday, moving her season total to 116 and taking over sole possession of eighth place. Also on the defensive side, State was paced by Payton Harris (8) and Emily Hill (7) in digs.
MSU will now hit the road for the final time this season, as they head to College Station and Baton Rouge. The Bulldogs and Aggies square off at 5 p.m. CT on Friday, Nov. 11, before facing the Tigers on Sunday, Nov. 13 at 1 p.m. Both matches will be broadcast on SEC Network +, which fans can access through WatchESPN.com or the ESPN app.
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