Six different players
finished with five kills or more as No. 7 Florida captured the Campus USA
Credit Union Classic title by defeating UC Irvine 3-0 (30-20, 30-24, 30-13) on
Saturday before a crowd of 4,003 at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
Senior outside hitter Jane Collymore (Englewood, Colo.)
picked up her second tournament MVP honor of the season after leading the
Gators with 12.0 points and tallying eight kills. Sophomore Marcie Hampton (Gainesville, Fla.)
tied for the match high with 10 kills. Florida (9-1) dominated the Anteaters
(5-6) statistically as the Gators finished with more kills (51-27), aces (7-2),
digs (26-19) and blocks (9.0-8.0) and ended the match with a season-best .394
hitting percentage to UC Irvine’s .067.
“We’re getting kills from every
position and that’s what we’re looking for,” Florida coach Mary Wise said. “Even more
important than the .394 hitting was that we finished with nine blocks. If we
can average three blocks per game we can compete with a lot of teams.”
Florida won its 229th straight match against
ranked opponents and its 16th consecutive in home regular season
tournament matches. Sophomore setter Angie
McGinnis (Fraser, Mich.)
also fared well for UF as she had 36 assists, eight kills on .583 hitting
and added a pair of digs in being named to the All-Tournament team along with Hampton. Collymore moved
into seventh place in school history with 141 career aces, while senior libero Rachel Engel (Littleton, Colo.)
saw her streak of 22 straight matches in double figures in digs end, but she
moved into ninth in UF history with 862 career digs after picking up eight.
The Gators took control of
the opening game and used a 5-1 run at the midway point before finishing with a
30-20 win. After the Anteaters cut UF’s lead to two at 12-10, the Gators scored
four straight points behind the serve of freshman Christina Diaz (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) and five of the next six with
a kill from Collymore giving Florida a 17-11 lead. UC Irvine got as close as
six at 21-15 before the Gators went on a 5-1 run to move ahead by 10 at 26-16.
Sophomore opposite hitter Amber McCray (Longview, Texas)
sealed the game with a kill. McGinnis led the way for the Gators from the
setter spot with five kills, while Hampton
added four digs.
Game two was much closer
than the opener with things tight until the Gators scored the final five points
to win 30-24. The teams traded points for a majority of the game until a UC
Irvine kill made it 25-24. Following a UF timeout, the Gators put five straight
points on the scoreboard to close out the game. Junior defensive specialist Rhian Davis (Austin,
Texas) fueled the run with her serve,
while Hampton added a solo block and a kill in
the stretch before Davis
ended the game with an ace. Sophomore middle blocker Kisya Killingsworth (Deltona,
Fla.) paced UF with five
kills on nine swings in the game as the Gators hit .452 as a team.
Florida dominated the final game as the Gators used a 9-0
run early on to take control before closing the match at 30-13. With the score
6-4 in favor of Florida, the Gators sided out before Collymore served eight
consecutive points, which included three service aces in the run. With Florida ahead 15-4, the
Anteaters never made the game close before the match ended with a UC Irvine
attack error. The Gators hit .464 in the game with freshman middle blocker Kelsey Bowers (Gainesville, Fla.)
leading the charge with four kills on five swings. She also recorded a pair
of solo blocks as UF had 4.0 team blocks in the game.
Florida returns to action on Monday, Sept. 19 when the
Gators face intrastate rival Florida
State (2-5) at 7 p.m. at
the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. The match will be carried live on FSN Florida
and WRUF-AM 850 as well as www.GatorZone.com.
IPFW Def. Eastern Michigan 3-0
Fabiana Souza led all
players with 17 kills and 20.5 points in guiding IPFW to a 3-0 sweep of Eastern Michigan in the opening match of the second day
of the Campus USA Credit Union Classic.
Souza finished with a
double-double by adding 14 digs, while Claire Jackson, who was named to the
All-Tournament team, added 10 kills on .364 hitting. The Mastadons (9-1)
finished with more kills (57-43), aces (5-1) and digs (73-62), while
out-hitting the Eagles (5-4) .227-.168.
Bethany Piccolini led Eastern Michigan with 11 kills and 12.5 points.
Campus USA Credit Union All-Tournament
Team
Florida - Jane Collymore, OH (MVP)
Florida - Marcie Hampton, OH
Florida - Angie McGinnis, S
UCI - Whitney Pavlik, MB
UCI - Amanda Vazquez, MB
IPFW - Claire Jackson, MB
EMU - Bethany Piccolini, OH/MB
