GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 16 Florida volleyball team continued its momentum from earlier in the day, defeating Florida Gulf Coast in three sets on Friday night.
Florida took the highly-contested first set 25-23, then followed with a 25-19 victory in the second frame. The Gators clinched the match in decisive fashion in the third frame, winning 25-13 to move to 5-2 on the year.
Marina Markova led the Gators’ offense on Friday night, coming up with 12 kills. Bre Kelley (.385) and AC Fitzpatrick (.538) each pitched in seven kills of their own, while Birdie Hendrickson tallied a career-high six kills in the match.
Alexis Stucky dished out 35 helpers on the night, leading the team to a .255 clip in the match.
As a team, Florida held the Eagles to just a .110 clip in the three-set match, tallying 9.0 blocks. Kelley led the way with five blocks at the net, followed by four apiece from Gabrielle Essix and Stucky.
Elli McKissock posted a 15-dig performance on Friday night, moving her into 25th place in the Florida record books with 892 digs. Trinity Adams pitched in seven digs of her own, while Stucky (5) and Emily Canaan (4) combined for nine digs in the match.
The Gators totaled five aces behind the service line, led by two from Adams and Stucky.
Florida closes out the Sunshine Invitational on Saturday against the VCU Rams. First serve is slated for 4 p.m. in Exactech Arena and the match will be streamed on SEC Network +.
Records
No. 16 Florida (5-2)
FGCU (5-3)
How It Happened
- The first set was a back-and-forth battle for both squads, with neither team holding more than a one-point advantage through the middle of…
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