Tangerine Wiggs plays just three rotations in Florida’s frontcourt, but on Friday night she took advantage of every chance she was given.
Florida's junior right-side hitter registered 12 kills and a .455 hitting percentage in a straight-set victory (25-23, 25-21, 25-11) against a slumping Ole Miss.
“She had a good matchup,” Florida coach Mary Wise said. “So you credit Tangerine for the swings.”
But Wise also quickly turned the attention to the performance of Florida’s setters. Playing against one of the nation’s best middle blockers in Rebels senior Regina Thomas, Florida had to be able to read blocks well to score against Ole Miss (5-12, 1-8 Southeastern Conference).
Senior Kelly Murphy picked up 22 assists, while sophomore Chanel Brown added 16 more.
“People are going to look at the match and look at Tangerine’s kills but understand that those balls are coming off of Kelly’s sets, and Kelly really found a good rhythm,” Wise said. “I thought Chanel set well also.”
For the second game in a row, Florida (14-3, 7-1 SEC) was also able to pull out a solid defensive performance. Defensive specialists Taylor Unroe and Madison Monserez combined for 20 digs -- 14 of which belonged to Unroe.
The Gators’ redshirt freshman libero was especially effective in a third set that Florida dominated.
“She made some really elite-level digs and the whole team responded,” Wise said. “Good things happen when Taylor’s touching the first ball, whether that’s off serve-receive or in transition on defense.”
Although the Rebels were able to keep things reasonably close in the first two sets, their standout players could never get in the full rhythm it would have taken to compete with the Gators.
Thomas, an All-American in 2010, hit .500 with no attack errors but could only manage seven kills. Allegra Wells, a junior outside hitter who Wise called one of the most dynamic athletes in the country, picked up nine kills but hit just .095.
“We felt the difference in the match is we just couldn’t let their left side go off, and they didn’t,” Wise said.
Meanwhile, Florida caught a quick start from redshirt senior Kristy Jaeckel, who has now had double-digit kills in 12-consecutive games. Jaeckel took a game-high 29 swings but was able to garner 12 kills and four blocks.
UF now continues its weekend road trip against Alabama on Sunday at 2 p.m.
