With an injury-plagued, youthful and inexperienced team, coach Mary Wise said making the NCAA Tournament was an accomplishment in itself.
But the 14th-seeded Gators’ unexpected run was halted by No. 3 Texas in Austin, Texas, on Friday night after the Longhorns swept Florida for the second time this year (25-22, 26-24, 25-17).
Although Florida didn’t win a set, it’s offense, led by Southeastern Player of the Year Chloe Mann and SEC Freshman of the Year Ziva Recek, was more efficient than Texas’ during the first two frames.
Mann ended her junior campaign by hitting an even .500 while racking up a team-high 14 kills. Recek added 11 kills of her own.
“Offensively, we were right there,” Wise said. “Chloe Mann showed at least the Texas fans that this is a first team All-American.”
As a group, the offense couldn’t overcome Texas’ front-line defense, which stuffed 10.5 balls compared to the Gators’ four.
Florida registered more than twice as many offensive errors (23) than the entire Texas squad (11).
Recek had a hitting percentage of .000 because her 11 kills were negated by her 11 errors. She committed the most errors for a single match in her young career.
In all three sets, the Gators started off strong but tapered off at the end. Florida led 5-2 in the first, 3-0 in the second and trailed only 7-5 early in the third.
Each time Texas made an offensive run led by Bailey Webster who hit .414 with 15 kills.
“Hats off to Texas for as well as they played once again,” Wise said. “This is similar to what they did earlier in the season where they were able to make plays at the end of each set, especially in set two.”
The Longhorns knocked the Gators out of the Sweet 16, which they have made in all but one of Wise’s 22 years at the school.
With the defeat, Florida also loses its three seniors, Betsy Smith, Tangerine Wiggs and Sundai Weston. Each senior played in all three sets on Friday night.
