Quickly rising, Mary Wise got vocal.
Her team, in the midst of a 22-set winning streak, was watching things snowball out of control, falling behind Mississippi State by eight points in the second set of Sunday‘s game.
What came next was much different.
The Gators (17-3, 10-1 Southeastern Conference) took the following eight points en route to a second-set victory and an eighth consecutive straight-set win (25-23, 25-18, 25-18)
“In set two, it was two different teams,” Wise said. “A lot of credit to Kristy Jaeckel.”
Florida’s senior outside hitter went on a serving tear, stepping behind the end line seven times in a row and launching a potent UF offensive attack.
Her serves opened the way for junior right-side hitter Tangerine Wiggs and senior middle blocker Cassandra Anderson, both of whom had strong performances Sunday, especially in the second set.
“Kristy’s serving run really set it off for us,” Wiggs said. “When you’re down that much, you can’t really think about it in the big picture.”
Wiggs and Anderson combined to hit .734 in the second set, with eight of the team’s 13 kills. Anderson also added two of her four blocks during that set.
As they have at times during this current winning streak, the Gators started slow, battling back and forth with an overmatched opponent for a large portion of the day.
Leading the SEC in both hitting percentage and opponent hitting percentage, the Gators were out-hit .286 to .250 in the first set. Paired with Wednesday’s third set against South Carolina, it was the first time Florida was out-hit in back-to-back sets since late September.
“We weren’t real good at defending against their left-side hitters, but part of that was how good their left-side hitters were,” Wise said.
The Gators’ final team hitting percentage of .304 was their lowest since Sept. 30 against Auburn.
While Jaeckel’s serving was a key ingredient in the second set, Sunday marked the first time since Sept. 2 that she did not register double-digit kills.
Typically known as a power team, Florida resorted to more touch-oriented kills against Mississippi State (10-11, 5-7 SEC). Anderson was one player who took the focus on efficiency to heart.
“We definitely work on that a lot more in practice, not just blowing the ball out of bounds and giving them points,” she said.
Digs continued to be an area of improvement for the Gators as well. Jaeckel, Madison Monserez and Taylor Unroe each recorded 10 digs against the Bulldogs, contributing to a team total of 47.
For Florida, Sunday’s game came after two days of light practice in which the team focused more on quality than quantity in the wake of a draining road stretch. Wiggs said the reduced workload helped the team after a grueling week.
“It was so comforting that [the coaches] do listen to us,” Wiggs said. “It just shows that your voice does matter.”
Senior outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel’s impressive serving performance helped lead the Gators to a come-from-behind second-set victory on Sunday.
