Senior outside hitter Jane Collymore (Englewood, Colo.)
finished with 16 kills and a match-high 19.0 points in leading No. 5 Florida
past Georgia 3-0 (30-26, 30-28, 30-22) for the 38th straight time on
Wednesday evening at the Ramsey Student Center.
Sophomore middle blocker Kari Klinkenborg (Highlands Ranch, Colo.)
also ended the match with a career-high 13 kills on .611 hitting with five
blocks as Florida (13-1, 3-0) won its 77th consecutive Southeastern
Conference regular season road match. The Gators finished with more kills
(54-47), digs (41-40) and aces (5-2) and out-hit Georgia (6-6, 1-1) .275-.190.
“We sputtered at times,
but we made key plays at the right time,” Florida coach Mary Wise said. “We were
fortunate the schedule allowed us to play Georgia early because I don’t think
anyone wants to play them later in the year. I fully expect Georgia to be
up for an NCAA bid at the end of the year.”
Collymore moved into a tie
for fifth in school history in career aces with 147 after tallying one against
the Bulldogs. Senior libero Rachel Engel
(Littleton, Colo.) led all players in the match with
14 digs. The Gators have now won 111 of the 124 games played against the
Bulldogs under Wise’s direction and 26 of the 38 straight victories have been
sweeps.
The opening game was tight
throughout with the final score of 30-26 Florida
representing the largest gap between the teams in the game. After posting five
attack errors and a pair of service errors within the first 15 points Georgia
scored, the Gators minimized their errors down the stretch and ended the game
with a .316 hitting percentage. The teams see-sawed back and forth in the game with
Florida
taking an early 12-9 lead after a kill from Collymore. The Bulldogs moved past
the Gators at 15-14 before UF came back to regain the advantage at 16-15. The
squads traded the lead two more times before Florida claimed it for good on a kill from Klinkenborg
at 25-24. The Gators bumped their lead to three at 27-24 before eventually
closing the game out on a Kisya Killingsworth
(Deltona, Fla.)
kill at 30-26. Klinkenborg tied for the game high with six kills on .857
hitting, while junior defensive specialist Rhian
Davis (Austin, Texas) posted a game-high six digs.
The Bulldogs took control
in the early stages of the second game before a 7-0 run fueled a Florida comeback
resulting in a 30-28 win. With the Bulldogs leading 16-11, the Gators sided out
on a Collymore kill before Killingsworth served the Gators to six straight
points and an 18-16 advantage. Georgia
tied the game at 19-19 and 21-21 before the Gators scored four straight to move
on top 25-21 after a Killingsworth kill. The Bulldogs battled back within one
at 28-27, but after a UF timeout, Klinkenborg provided the final two kills for
the Gator win. Collymore led all players with eight kills in the game.
The Gators jumped out to
an early lead in the final game and never looked back before claiming a 30-22
win. After the Bulldogs came within one at 7-6, the Gators reeled off six of
the next seven points to build a 13-7 advantage. Georgia
remained fairly close until Florida
pulled away late. The Bulldogs came within three at 23-20 and following a UF
timeout, the Gators closed out the match with seven of the final nine points,
including the final kill by Collymore, who led Florida with four kills in the game with Engel
adding eight digs.
Florida returns to action Sunday, Oct. 2 when the Gators
host Kentucky
at 1:30 p.m. at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. The match will be carried live
on WRUF-AM 850 and www.GatorZone.com and
will also be available on GatorVision Online.
