GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The 20th-ranked Florida volleyball team took No. 11 Tennessee in five-sets, but ultimately fell in a five-set thriller (25-23, 14-25, 25-20, 23-25, 13-15) on Friday night. The Gators move to 14-6, 6-5 SEC, while the Lady Vols improve to 19-3, 10-2 SEC.
Down at the start of set one, Florida closed the gap by going on two different 4-0 scoring runs to take a 23-19 advantage, and take a 25-23 first-set victory. Tennessee grabbed the second set, but the Gators answered in the third with a 25-20 win to take a 2-1 match lead. The Lady Vols answered with a 25-23 win in the fourth frame to take it to five, where winner takes all. In a race to 15, the two teams were notched at 11 all, but Tennessee was able to come away with a 15-13 win to grab their 14th win against the Gators in the all-time series.
Freshman Kennedy Martin fired on all cylinders to a career-best 28 kills and lead the Gators on the offensive side. Sofia Victoria followed with 14 of her own, and Nnedi Okammor pitched in a career-high 12 kills to register a .524 clip.
Kennedy Muff dished out a career-high 60 assists in the match, leading the team to a .264 clip. The fifth year also registered 10 digs and two kills.
Florida tallied a total seven blocks, with five Gators contributing to at least one block assist in the match.
Elli McKissock led the backcourt, coming up with a season-high 24 digs, and finishing with four assists.
Martin also led the way behind the service line, recording a match-high two aces.
The Gators return to Exactech Arena for another top-20 matchup against No. 13…
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