| volleyBALL RESULTS |
Florida 3, Michigan 0
|
Texas 3, Kentucky 1
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Florida Volleyball Sweeps Michigan to Reach First Elite Eight Since 2005
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Behind senior right-side hitter/setter Kelly Murphy's (Wilmington, Ill.) triple-double, the No. 17 and unseeded Florida volleyball team swept its way into the Elite Eight, defeating Michigan in three sets (25-21, 25-13, 27-25) to reach the NCAA regional final for the first time since 2005 and the 12th time in Florida history.
"I was told .439 is the highest any Florida team has hit at this round of the NCAA Tournament," Florida head coach Mary Wise said. "We've said we thought our team was playing its very best - well, no Gator team has had an offense at that level."
Murphy registered a match-high 17 kills on 29 swings for a .517 hitting clip, adding 21 assists and 10 digs for her 29th career triple-double and 75th career double-double. Senior outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.) tallied 14 kills, eight digs and four blocks for 18.0 points against the Wolverines.
"Both Kristy (Jaeckel) and Kelly (Murphy) continue to be in the zone," Wise said. "It's like the game is moving in slow motion for them in terms of their hitting choices, and then add a triple-double for Kelly. I thought we handled their tough serves very well. If that match had gone any longer, Alex Hunt might have had 50 kills. That is one special player. I think we were very fortunate to win in three and that worked just fine for us."
The Gator middles had stellar performances for Florida, as Chloe Mann (Gainesville, Fla.) and Betsy Smith (Atlanta, Ga.) combined for an errorless 15 kills on 25 attacks (.600). Redshirt freshman libero Taylor Unroe (Muncie, Ind.) was solid in back row, notching 12 digs and tallying a career-high six assists. A bright spot for the Gators was the play of sophomore setter Chanel Brown (Tempe, Ariz.), who dished out a team-high 23 assists on the evening.
The Gators and Wolverines went back-and-forth for the first several points of the first frame until Murphy fired into the Michigan defense, giving Florida its first two-point lead, 4-2. A Michigan service ace tied the set at 13-13, but Mann broke the seam of the block to keep the Gators in the lead, 14-13. After a Florida 3-0 run, the Wolverines called a timeout, but Unroe kept the drive alive with a service ace extending the Gator lead to 18-14. Jaeckel smashed a set from Brown into Wolverine territory that sparked a 3-0 run, giving Florida a 22-16 advantage. A Wolverine attack ignited a 3-0 drive that forced the Orange and Blue into a timeout at 23-20. Ferrell hit around a block to put the Gators one point from the set win, 24-20, and a Michigan attacking error gave Florida the frame, 25-21.
Michigan took a strong 3-0 lead to start the second stanza, but Jaeckel fired a bullet into the Wolverine defense that drove the Gators on a 3-0 run to tie the frame at 4-4. Murphy hit around the block to tie the score and drive the Orange and Blue on a 5-0 run with Jaeckel behind the service line, taking a 9-5 advantage. Florida continued to extend the lead, not allowing the Wolverines any chance to take it back, and Florida completely shut the door when Jaeckel unleashed an attack down the line that sparked an 8-0 run with Unroe behind the service line. Brown dished a perfect set to Murphy to put Florida one point from the set win, and Murphy attacked an overpass courtesy of a Jaeckel bullet to give the Gators a 25-13 victory and a 2-0 advantage going into intermission.
The Gators and Wolverines kept the third set close, tying three times until Michigan went on a 4-0 run that forced Florida into an early timeout as Michigan took a 7-3 lead. The Orange and Blue continued to trail Michigan, but slowly gained ground on the Wolverines. A Murphy bullet tied the set at 12-12, and again at 13-13, but the Gators still could not find a way to take the lead. However, a Michigan attacking error tied the set again at 18 apiece, and Jaeckel powered one through the UM block to give Florida a 19-18 lead and force the Wolverines into a timeout. Michigan and Florida battled, tying the score at 22, 23, 24 and 25, but the Orange and Blue ultimately took the 27-25 win on a Jaeckel kill.
Florida now faces No. 3 seed Illinois for a trip to San Antonio and a spot in the Final Four, what would be the Gators' first trip to the Final Four since their National Championship final appearance in 2003. The Gators and the Fighting Illini will face off at 7 p.m. ET on ESPNU with Sam Gore and former Georgia All-SEC hitter Maria Taylor with commentary. Longtime play-by-play announcer Tom Collett and former Gator All-SEC setter Missy Whittemore will call the action live for Gator fans on Sportsradio 850.
"(Confidence) is something we've had to work for, and being able to free ourselves up to play the way that we have been over the tournament has been a battle that we struggled with over the entire year," Jaeckel said. "I think that we've finally found our stride and are confident in ourselves. If we continue to carry that confidence into tomorrow, it will help us sustain the level of play that we've had. I think we're playing as confident as we ever have."
Top-Seeded Texas Escapes With Hard-Fought Win Over Kentucky
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Despite a valiant effort by a gutsy Kentucky team, the top-seeded Texas Longhorns outlasted the host Wildcats in a thrilling 3-1 (25-23, 22-25, 27-25, 25-23) match to advance to the NCAA Regional Finals in front of a near-capacity crowd of 4,022 fans in Memorial Coliseum.
With the loss the Wildcats conclude their season behind perhaps their best performance of the year. UK closes out the year with an impressive 28-6 overall record. Texas improves to 26-4 and will face UCLA for the right to march on to the NCAA Semi-Finals in San Antonio, Texas, next week.
“People that saw that match, I think that’s about as level of volleyball as you can play,” UK coach Craig Skinner said. “If you aren’t excited to play in front of a crowd like that and with a group that puts there heart and soul into the game then I’d be stunned. We’re on the right path and we have to continue to take steps forward and this team is so motivated that I’m not worried that won’t happen.”
The match featured 52 tie scores and 20 lead swaps combined in the four sets and the teams were evenly matched in nearly every statistical category.
“I didn’t expect it to be as evenly matched as far as statistics,” Skinner said. “I thought we could have done a lot of things defensively, blocking and attacking. The one thing I did not expect tonight was Texas to play the floor defense they did tonight, we hit some rockets and they came up with them and that was probably the difference in the match.”
Four Wildcat players reached double-figures in the kills’ column led by 16 from junior Ashley Frazier. Freshman Lauren O’Conner tallied 13 with seniors Becky Pavan (12) and Ann Armes (11). Junior setter Christine Hartmann passed out 52 assists and added three kills of her own as the Wildcats tossed down 13 or more kills in every set.
Junior libero Stephanie Klefot tallied 21 digs and has now topped 600 digs for the season and is the first player in UK history to achieve that feat. Sophomore Jessi Greenberg added eight digs with freshman Jackie Napper contributing seven.
The first set featured a back-and-forth battle with Texas scoring the final two points to break a 23-23 tie. The Longhorns struck for a kill and then forced a hitting error by the Blue and White. UK opened the match by hitting .310 with O’Conner jump-starting the match with four kills to lead the way.
Kentucky fired back to capture the second set by a 25-22 score and earn a tie into the locker room at one set apiece. Pavan was unstoppable with eight kills on a near-perfect .833 hitting clip.
A kill from Hartmann broke a 21-21 tie. O’Conner and Pavan then teamed up for back-to-back kills to give the Wildcats a 24-21 edge. The Longhorns saved set-point once before Pavan struck for her fifth kill of the stanza to ignite the raucous crowd.
The third set needed extra-points to determine a winner. With the Longhorns capturing set-point at 24-21, the Wildcats scored the next three points to tie the score at 24. O’Conner struck for a kill and then sliced the defense with her serve. Frazier smacked her third kill of the frame to knot the score. After UK saved set point once again at 25-25, the Longhorns were able to break loose for back-to-back kills and take the hotly-contested set 27-25.
The fourth frame was much of the same between the two squads with the set going down to the wire. Frazier tied the score at 22 apiece, but the Longhorns would go on to score three of the final four points to advance to the Regional Finals for the third consecutive season.
Frazier struck for six kills in the set and Klefot posted seven digs as the Wildcats attempted to keep the match alive.
Texas will take on UCLA on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET in Memorial Coliseum for the right to move on to the national semi-finals. The Bruins knocked off four-time defending champion Penn State in decisive fashion with a 3-0 sweep to move on to the final eight.