No. 3-seed Florida, which fell behind by two sets, pushed back at the second-seed Panthers to claim the third set decisively. The Gators threatened to do the same in the fourth but ran out of gas, losing 3-1 (25-20, 25-21, 17-25, 25-22) in a fiercely contested NCAA Tournament region semifinal here at the UW Field House late Thursday afternoon.
The loss ended Florida’s run in the NCAA Tournament, and the disappointment leaked from the eyes of Markova and Beason afterward. While Wise shared their desolation, she could see how close the match was in the numbers on the box score.
“So proud of this team to get here with as little NCAA experience [as we have],” she said. “I mean, we outscored Pitt. We had more kills. We had more blocks. We out dug them. We had more points. We just didn’t win in the final scores. Some of their players have 12 NCAA matches under their belt; for some of our players, it was three.
“Such a big difference in the experience level, and I thought that was the difference in the match.”
Florida’s inexperience on the college game’s biggest stage showed up primarily on first touches. The Gators had 11 service errors and four reception errors, which limited their ability to reel off significant scoring runs and maintain momentum.
The Panthers (30-3), who advanced to the national semifinals a season ago, are too good of a team to serve free points on a platter. The Panthers made the Gators (25-6) pay most harshly, ending Florida’s season and the possibility of a rematch against host Wisconsin on Saturday. The Gators beat the Badgers three months ago on the road.
Florida took early leads in both the first and second sets, but each time, the Panthers recovered behind veteran right-side hitter Courtney Buzzerio, whose six kills in the first set overshadowed Markova’s five in the opening game.
In the second set, the Gators went up 8-6 before the Panthers went on an 11-3 run to gain control. Florida flexed back in the third set, hitting .571 behind five kills from Bre Kelley, three from Gabbi Essix and two from Markova, plus five aces, led by a pair from freshman setter Alexis Stucky.
The turnaround showed why the youthful Gators, with Markova and graduate Rhett Robinson the only seniors on the roster, were here in the first place.
“At that point, we had…
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