Senior outside hitter Marcie Hampton (Gainesville, Fla.) recorded 14 kills and 12 digs to lead a trio of Gators with double-figure kill totals as the sixth-ranked University of Florida volleyball team stormed to a 3-0 (30-26, 30-23, 30-14) win over Mississippi State on Friday night.

UF hit a season-high .505 as a team, led by 14 kills apiece from Hampton and senior middle blocker Kisya Killingsworth (Deltona, Fla.). Senior opposite hitter Amber McCray (Longview, Texas), playing the 100th match of her career, chipped in with 10 kills.

The .505 hitting effort was the Gators’ best in four years to the day - Sept. 28, 2003 - when they hit .603 in a 3-0 sweep of Auburn in Gainesville.

“Our offense was really clicking tonight, and it was great to see what we’re capable of when we’re playing well,” Florida head coach Mary Wise said. “The service game was really a key tonight. We gave away a few points early, but we showed some resilience and actually ended up having a good serving night.”

The Gators won the ace battle, 8-6, while also out-digging the Bulldogs, 45-30. UF held its hosts to a .150 hitting percentage for the match, putting up 10.0 total blocks along the way. The performance featured a season-best single-game efficiency rating of .737 in the decisive game.

The double-double was Hampton’s eighth of the season, and marked her second in the Gators’ last two outings. Her 14 kills in the win moved her past former UF All-American Aurymar Rodriguez for eighth on the school’s career kills list, while her 12 digs vaulted her past current volunteer assistant Jenny (Manz) Theis for fifth in school history.

Senior setter Angie McGinnis (Fraser, Mich.) led all players with 40 assists, and sophomore libero/defensive specialist tallied a match-high 14 digs for the Gators. Killingsworth, whose 14 kills came on an errorless hitting efficiency of .667, paced the field with five total blocks.

Senior outside hitter Marcie Hampton (Gainesville, Fla.) was active early in game one, recording four of UF’s first eight kills before senior opposite hitter Amber McCray (Longview, Texas) and junior middle blocker Kelsey Bowers (Gainesville, Fla.) teamed up on a block to give UF a 9-6 lead in the early going. A 12-4 run that featured a kill and a solo block by Bowers pushed Florida’s lead to 18-10 and forced MSU to call a timeout. The Bulldogs battled back to take a 22-21 lead, but the Orange and Blue used a pair of MSU errors and kills from senior middle blocker Kisya Killingsworth (Deltona, Fla.) and McCray to regain the advantage, 25-23. A block solo by senior setter Angie McGinnis (Fraser, Mich.) stretched the Gators’ cushion to 28-24, and UF closed out the game, 30-24, a few minutes later on Bowers’ fourth kill of the frame. Florida hit .568 in the opening game, led by Hampton’s seven kills on .500 hitting.

Killingsworth had the hot hand early in a tight game two, recording a kill and a block assist within an evenly-played first 10 points. With the score knotted at 7-7, Killingsworth came up with another kill off hands before Bowers launched one down the middle to give UF a two-point edge. Facing a one-point deficit, McCray ripped a cross-court kill to tie the game at 12-12 and ignite a 4-0 Florida run that forced a Mississippi State timeout when she killed a ball down the middle of the court. Killingsworth and freshman outside hitter Callie Rivers (Winter Park, Fla.) each notched kills and combined on a block assist to make the score 19-13 in UF’s favor, and freshman defensive specialist Erin Fleming (Orlando, Fla.) sent the Bulldogs into another timeout with an ace that pushed the lead to 20-13. MSU got as close as four points in the latter stages of the game, but a pair kills by McCray down the stretch forced game point and McGinnis sent the match into the intermission with a kill down the right side to cap the game, 30-23. Hampton, McCray and McGinnis each tallied four kills in the second game, and UF piled up 21 kills en route to limiting the hosts to a .116 hitting percentage.

Florida jumped out to a 3-1 lead in game three behind kills from Hampton and sophomore middle blocker Kristina Johnson (Indianapolis, Ind.). The lead continued to grow as Fleming fired another ace and Rivers fired her fourth kill of the night to prompt an MSU timeout with UF leading, 7-2. Killingsworth was in on block assists with McGinnis and Rivers, respectively, and ripped her 10th kill of the night as the margin widened to 12-4 in Florida’s favor. Hampton registered a kill and an ace on back-to-back rallies and McCray fired a kill to give UF its first double-figure lead of the night, 16-6. Cusack served a pair of aces as the Gators continued to increase their lead, as the edge grew to as many as 17 on two occasions, and Hampton finished the match with a kill off hands to give Florida game three by a score of 30-14.

The Gators will hit the court again on Sunday, when they complete their four-match road swing at Alabama. The match is slated for 2:30 p.m. EST, and radio coverage of the action can be heard on Rock 104, as well as www.GatorZone.com.   

- UF –