The Florida volleyball team stayed undefeated in Southeastern Conference play with another win in convincing fashion.
The No. 1 Gators (20-1, 13-0 SEC) easily took care of Ole Miss (16-6, 10-3) in Oxford, Miss., with a 3-0 (25-12, 25-21, 25-17) victory Friday night.
“I thought our team really brought their 'A' game today,” coach Mary Wise said. “With the quick turnaround from Wednesday night’s match, the travel yesterday and playing in this environment against a really good Ole Miss team, the way we played was a real testament to our team’s maturity. I thought everyone gave their best effort today and we won this match with serving and blocking.”
The win marked the second time this season the Gators have handed the Rebels a loss. The Gators defeated Ole Miss 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-19) in Gainesville on Sept. 26.
Junior setter Kelly Murphy hit .562 with 10 kills, 16 assists and a match-high 10 digs to give her a NCAA-best sixth triple-double of the season. She also had two service aces.
“Kelly was outstanding tonight, but she had a lot of help from her teammates around her,” Wise said. “This was a great win — Ole Miss had been undefeated at home and we came in and played really well with not a lot of preparation time. Ole Miss is an NCAA team that has a chance to win the SEC West.”
Senior outside hitter Callie Rivers came up big once again for the Orange and Blue. She hit .368 with seven kills, six digs and a block.
Ole Miss sophomore outside hitter Whitney Craven came into the match as the Rebels’ leader in kills with 3.17 per set. By the end of the match, the Gators held Craven to zero kills on 20 total attacks. Craven’s 13 attack errors gave her a dismal -.650 hitting performance.
“I think one of the reasons why Craven didn’t go off was because of how well Erin [Fleming] played defense,” Wise said.
Fleming had 8 digs and pitched in with three assists.
Sophomore right side hitter Tangerine Wiggs hit .471 with nine kills and five blocks. The Gators out blocked the Rebels nine to one in the match, allowing the lone block in the first set.
Florida hit .368 as a team on the day as Ole Miss hit only .067.
The match was the first of three-match road trip for the Gators.
“There are six of eight matches on the road and this is just one of them, Wise said. “There’s lots of volleyball still ahead of us.”
A radio broadcast contributed to this report.
