Senior outside hitter Jane Collymore (Englewood, Colo.) finished with a match-high 17 kills on .414 hitting in leading No. 4 Florida to a 3-0 sweep of Colorado (30-17, 30-19, 30-24) in the opening match of the Wells Fargo Thanksgiving Classic on the campus of Denver University Friday evening at Hamilton Gymnasium.

Florida (29-2) won its eighth straight match and 22^nd in its last 23 contests and will close out regular season play on Saturday with a chance to reach 30 wins for the 11^th time under coach Mary Wise.

“We had great offensive production from everyone tonight,” Florida coach Mary Wise said. “For us to get these kind of numbers against Colorado tells you that we played very well.”

The Gators finished with more kills (55-39), aces (6-1) and blocks (8.0-6.0), while finishing with a better efficiency than Colorado (14-12) as the Gators hit .446 to .212 for the Buffs.

Sophomore middle blocker Kisya Killingsworth (Deltona, Fla.) added 14 kills on .542 hitting with a match-best five blocks. Sophomore outside hitter Marcie Hampton (Gainesville, Fla.) added nine kills on .421 hitting with seven digs and three blocks.

The Gators dominated the opening stages of the first game, which led to a comfortable 30-17 win. UF scored the first five points of the game behind the serve of freshman defensive specialist Christina Diaz (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.). Florida gradually built its lead and the Buffs never seriously challenged before the Gators put away the game on a kill from setter Angie McGinnis (Fraser, Mich.). Florida hit .576 in the game with 21 kills and just two errors on 33 swings. Collymore paved the way with six kills on .857 hitting.

The second game was close in the opening stages until Florida used runs of 7-0 and 13-2 in taking control before claiming a 30-19 win. With the score tied at 8-8, the Gators scored seven consecutive points behind the serve of Hampton. Collymore had three kills in the stretch in helping Florida move in front 15-8. After the teams sided out to 16-10 in favor of UF, the Gators tallied five consecutive points in forging ahead 21-10. Colorado never got within striking distance the rest of the way. The Gators hit .517 in the game to just .200 for the Buffs as Collymore led the way with a game-high six kills on .333 hitting, while Killingsworth added four kills on .800 hitting. Collymore also led all players with four digs in the game.

Colorado led for the first time in the match in the third game and things were close until the Gators pulled away at the halfway point in a 30-24 win. After a service error by the Gators, Colorado led 14-13. But UF then scored five straight points on three attack errors by Colorado, a kill from Hampton and block assists from Killingsworth and sophomore opposite hitter Amber McCray (Longview, Texas). The Buffs came back within three at 19-16, but the Gators tallied four of the next five points in moving on top 23-17. The Gators eventually closed out the match on an off-speed kill from Killingsworth at 30-24. Florida again out-hit Colorado .282-.188 with Collymore and Killingsworth both collecting five kills in the game to lead the Gators.

Florida returns to action on Saturday when the Gators will face host Denver in the finale of the Wells Fargo Thanksgiving Classic. The match is slated for a 9:30 p.m. (ET) start. Live stats will be available through Denver University’s website at www.denverpioneers.com.

Florida will then await the announcement of the field for the 2005 NCAA Championships, which can be seen live at 2:30 p.m. (ET) on Sunday on ESPNews.