COLUMBIA, S.C. – The No. 13 Florida volleyball team earned its seventh straight SEC sweep with a 3-0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-23) victory over South Carolina on Wednesday evening. The Gators move to 16-3 on the season and 9-1 halfway through conference play. The Gamecocks drop to 10-10 overall and 1-9 in the SEC. The match was the latter half of ESPNU’s Wednesday Night Women’s Volleyball doubleheader.
The Gators have won 21 straight sets, the most since the 2009 season, when Florida swept conference opponents from October 1st to October 22nd.
Florida had its most balanced offensive output of the SEC slate, led by Betsy Smith’s (Atlanta, Ga.) career performance, as the junior middle blocker had a career-high 10 kills on 11 swings, registering an astronomical .909 hitting percentage, also a career high.
Senior outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.) had a career night as well, posting her 14th straight double-digit kill performance of the season. Her previous record was 10 straight, going from October 30th, 2009 to September 19th, 2010. Jaeckel served up seven aces, a career high, tying the record for third all-time at Florida for aces.
Her serving effort is the most since teammate Kelly Murphy’s (Wilmington, Ill.) eight aces against Arkansas a year ago (October 3rd, 2010) and the Colorado native shares the third place spot with Aury Cruz, who served up seven aces twice in her career (Kentucky - September 28th, 2001; Illinois State – November 29th, 2002). Cruz also holds the Florida record for most aces in a match with nine against South Carolina on September 26th, 2003.
Florida’s pin hitters had a productive evening as a whole, with senior outside hitter Stephanie Ferrell (Los Angeles, Calif.) registering eight kills on .462 hitting. Murphy posted eight kills, 16 assists and nine digs for another near-triple-double effort. Junior right-side hitter Tangerine Wiggs (Seattle, Wash.) hit seven kills against the Gamecocks. Defensively, the Gators were paced by a match-high 11 digs by freshman defensive specialist Madison Monserez (Orlando, Fla.), tying her career high and marking the first time in her Gator career to lead the team in digs.