Senior
outside hitter Jane Collymore (Englewood,
Colo.) tallied match highs in kills (20) and points (23.0) in leading No. 5
Florida to its 39th consecutive victory against Georgia 3-0 (30-19,
30-19, 30-17) on Wednesday night at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
The
Gators (17-1, 7-0) never trailed in the entire match and also claimed their 17th
straight home win against Georgia
(7-9, 2-4), while extending their streak of consecutive games won to 36. Six
different UF players hit above .300 in the contest with the Gators as a team
hitting a season-best .465. Florida finished
with more kills (58-34), aces (5-1), digs (37-25) and blocks (6.0-5.0), while
out-hitting Georgia
.465-.191.
“To be
able to hit .465 against a great blocking team like Georgia
makes for a great win,” Florida
coach Mary Wise said. “The number that stands out most to me is that in 99
swings we only hit seven balls out of bounds. Jane had 20 kills in three games
with a great hitting efficiency – it was an All-American performance.”
Collymore
accomplished a pair of milestones on the evening as she moved into fourth place
in Florida history
in career aces with 154 after collecting three. She also became just the sixth
player in school history to amass 1,600 points in a career. Sophomore outside
hitter Marcie Hampton (Gainesville,
Fla.) also fared well with 10 kills on .562 hitting with six digs and three
blocks, while sophomore setter Angie
McGinnis (Fraser, Mich.) led the Gators to their second-straight match of
.400 hitting and ended the contest with 47 assists, four kills and three digs.
The
Gators scored the first four points of game 1 and never looked back before
claiming a 30-19 win. After recording the opening four points, Florida
increased its lead to seven after block assists from sophomore opposite hitter Amber McCray (Longview, Texas) and
sophomore middle blocker Kari
Klinkenborg (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) on the right side made the score 11-4.
Georgia never threatened as
the Gators built their advantage to as much as 13 after a dig-to-kill by senior
libero Rachel Engel (Littleton, Colo.)
at 25-12. The Bulldogs mounted a small run to come within eight, but Florida scored the final
three points with Collymore ending the game with a kill on an overpass. She
tied for the game high with six kills on .545 hitting, while also collecting a
game-high four digs. The Gators out-hit Georgia .483-.270 in the game as UF
had just two attack errors on 29 swings with 16 kills.
The
second game again boasted little suspense as Florida scored 11 of the first 16 points in
taking the game 30-19. After the Bulldogs pulled within one at 6-5, the Gators
tallied five straight points to move on top 11-5 with McCray providing a solo
block and kill in the stretch. Georgia
was again within five at 17-12, but Florida
scored 12 of the next 15 points to go ahead 29-15 before sophomore middle
blocker Kisya Killingsworth (Deltona, Fla.)
closed the game with a kill. The
Gators were again on fire offensively as UF out-hit Georgia
.424-.069 with Hampton
and Collymore each collecting five kills. Hampton
hit .714 in the game and Engel tied for the game high with four digs.
The final
frame also proved to be lopsided as Florida
used a 5-0 run midway through the game in boosting a three-point advantage to
eight before cruising to a 30-17 win. After a Bulldog kill made the score 13-10
in favor of the Gators, Florida promptly notched the next five points with
Klinkenborg, McCray and Collymore posting kills in the stretch as Florida built
an 18-10 lead. Georgia never
came closer than seven points the rest of the way before freshman middle
blocker Kelsey Bowers (Gainesville, Fla.)
ended the match with a kill. Florida hit
.486 in the third game to .214 for Georgia with Collymore tallying
nine kills on 10 swings. Engel added a game-high eight digs.
The
Gators have a one-day break before traveling to Lexington
to take on Kentucky
on Friday, Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. The match will be broadcast live on Rock 104 and www.GatorZone.com
