From beginning to end, Florida thoroughly dominated a completely overmatched Florida Atlantic squad.
If this had been Saturday night, Gainesville would be glowing over the debut of new football coach Will Muschamp. But this was Friday night inside the cool confines of the O’Connell Center.
The No. 9 Gators volleyball team swept a hapless Owls team 3-0 (25-10, 25-10, 25-18) to stay undefeated on the young season.
“In some areas, it was a match that was tough to gauge because it was just such a serving-passing battle,” UF coach Mary Wise said.
Florida (4-0, 0-0 Southeastern Conference) out-hit FAU (0-2, 0-0 Sun Belt Conference) .444 to .000 and had 26 more kills than its in-state opponent.
The win capped off a day-night doubleheader, the Gators’ only two-game day of the year. Florida opened the day by defeating Jacksonville in straight sets; including a third set which proved to UF’s most lopsided victory since 2003.
“It always feels good to connect with our setters,” senior Cassandra Anderson said. “A lot has to do with our defense passing the ball and making it easier for Kelly [Murphy] and Chanel [Brown] to set us.”
Wise came out of the day’s opener complaining her team was a little too error-prone. The issue was slightly lessened in the nightcap, although Florida only committed one fewer attack error than it had earlier in the day.
As was the case in both games, all but one player on UF’s roster got playing time against FAU. The result was a very balanced attack that saw nine players record at least one kill, including sophomore Chloe Mann, who had six kills Saturday after recording her career first kill Tuesday night.
“Chloe did really well,” Murphy said. “She got up there every time she got set and put it down. I thought she really stepped it up today”
Murphy, Anderson, Kristy Jaeckel, Tangerine Wiggs and Stephanie Ferrell all had five or more kills against the Owls while Murphy also added 17 assists.
Florida closes out the Campus USA Credit Union Invite Saturday at 4 p.m. against Clemson, who was defeated in five sets by Jacksonville early Friday evening.
