Sophomore setter Angie McGinnis (Fraser, Mich.) recorded the first triple double in Florida history, but it wasn’t enough for the fourth-ranked Gators to overcome a two-game deficit as Florida fell to Tennessee 3-2 (22-30, 30-32, 30-19, 39-37, 12-15) on Sunday at the Stokely Athletics Center.

McGinnis finished with 10 kills, 22 digs and 59 assists in the epic match that featured the longest game in the rally scoring era for both Florida and Tennessee in game four. The Gators (21-2, 11-1) finished with more kills than the Lady Vols (15-7, 9-3) at 76-73, but Tennessee edged Florida in blocks (21.0-11.0) and digs (92-86).

“Angie was really good today and I couldn’t be more proud of the way we competed out there,” Florida coach Mary Wise said. “It was a championship level atmosphere and Tennessee really pulled out all the stops. I think the maturity of their players was a big factor in the outcome.”

Like the previous games in the match, the fifth was a see-saw affair with five ties and a pair of lead changes. The Gators tied the game at 8-8 on McGinnis’ kill that gave her a triple double before the teams sided out to a 9-9 tie. But Tennessee scored two straight to move ahead 11-9. Florida pulled within one at 11-10 after a kill from sophomore middle blocker Kisya Killingsworth (Deltona, Fla.) and 12-11 after senior outside hitter Jane Collymore (Englewood, Colo.) put away a ball on an overpass, but the Gators couldn’t close the gap any further before the match ended at 15-12.

Collymore also fared well for the Gators with 24 kills and 11 digs to record her 41^st career double-double. Killingsworth matched her career best with 17 kills while adding five blocks to lead the Gators. Sophomore middle blocker Kari Klinkenborg (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) finished with 11 kills on .333 hitting with four blocks and senior libero Rachel Engel (Littleton, Colo.) chimed in with 21 digs – her 18^th career match over 20.

Collymore and Engel also moved up the Gator charts after their afternoons as Engel moved into fifth in school history in career digs with 1,180, while Collymore is now fourth in the Gator history books in career points with 1,716.5.

The loss snapped Florida’s streak of wins against unranked opponents at 203 in addition to the Gators’ stretch of consecutive Southeastern Conference regular season away victories (79).

The Gators still remain the favorite in the race for Florida’s 15^th straight SEC title as UF is the only team with less than three conference losses. The Gators will clinch the title outright with three wins in their last four matches and will clinch at least a tie for the crown with two wins in their final four matches.

In the opening game, the Lady Vols used a 5-0 run midway through before ending Florida’s streak of consecutive games won in the SEC at 33. UT took a 6-4 advantage early before the Gators came back to lead 8-6 after a kill from Killingsworth. The teams traded points with the Gators holding a 10-9 advantage after a kill from McGinnis. But Tennessee came back with five straight points to move on top 14-10. The Gators narrowed the gap to two after a kill from sophomore opposite hitter Amber McCray (Longview, Texas) at 15-13, but Tennessee again responded and went ahead 18-13. Florida came within two at 18-16 after Collymore tallied a kill from the pipe, but the Gators got no closer the rest of the way before the Lady Vols won 30-22. Collymore paced UF with six kills in the game.

The second frame was a fierce contest that featured 13 ties and four lead changes before the Lady Vols capitalized on untimely Gator serving errors in a 32-30 win. Neither squad led by more than three points in the game. The Gators took their final lead at 27-26 after a kill from Collymore, but the Lady Vols came back with a pair of points in moving ahead 28-27. Florida fought off game points at 29-28 and 30-29 before Tennessee ended the game. Killingsworth led the Gators with eight kills in the game on .500 hitting, while Collymore added six.

The Gators took control from the outset of the third game and cruised to a 30-19 win. Florida out-hit the Lady Vols for the first time in the match, ending the game at .270 to .026 for Tennessee. The Gators streaked out to leads of 4-1 and 7-2 before the Lady Vols crept within one at 7-6. But Florida responded with three straight points and 10 of the next 12 in going ahead 17-8 and Tennessee never seriously threatened again. Collymore again led the Gators with four kills, while Engel added five digs.

Florida captured an epic game four, which was the longest in the rally scoring era for both the Gators and Tennessee. Florida eventually triumphed 39-37 after fending off five match points. There were 26 ties in the game and the lead changed hands 13 times. The Gators held a 29-28 late advantage, but the Lady Vols fought off a match point and went ahead 30-29 before sophomore outside hitter Marcie Hampton (Gainesville, Fla.) erased the first match point to bring UF back to 30-30. Florida scored again with a Collymore kill, but Tennessee tied things at 31-31. Killingsworth gave UF a one-point lead with a kill at 32-31 before UT rallied for the next two and a 33-32 advantage. Klinkenborg fought off the second match point with a kill on the slide to tie things at 33-33. Following another UT point, Collymore came up with a solo block to again prevent the match from ending. The Gators went ahead 35-34, but the Lady Vols came back with the next two in moving ahead 36-35. A UT service error tied the game at 36-36 before the Gators again staved off a loss with a Killingsworth kill to tie things at 37-37. Collymore collected another back row kill before UT committed an attack error to bring the game to a close. Collymore again led the Gators with six kills in the game with McGinnis adding eight digs.

Florida returns to action next weekend when the Gators continue their four-match road swing at Alabama on Friday at 8 p.m. (ET) and at Auburn on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. (ET). The contest against the Crimson Tide will air live on FSN Florida, while the match at Auburn will be carried live on Cox Sports. The Alabama contest will also air on Rock 104 and the Sunday match will be on WRUF-AM 850. Both contests will also be available on www.GatorZone.com.