A unique setting unfolded in front of a crowd of 8,074 at the O’Connell Center on Friday night.
It was reminiscent of last season’s NCAA Super Six in which Florida held a slim advantage against Alabama heading into its final exercise.
But on Friday, the roles were reversed, and redemption never tasted sweeter for the Gators.
No. 1 Florida (5-1, 4-1 Southeastern Conference) decisively won its first dual meet versus No. 5 Alabama (3-2, 3-2 SEC) since its upsetting loss in the NCAA Super Six, ultimately cruising to victory with a one-point cushion over the reigning champs.
Under the familiar strains of that particular meet in Duluth, Ga., UF used the sting of a shockingly close loss as fuel to better the Crimson Tide 198.100-196.850.
“It was incredible,” coach Rhonda Faehn said. “It was exactly what we were looking for in our athletes [with] how to respond in a high-pressure situations.”
“Everyone competed with fire, and it really showed.”
Minor injuries could not curb Florida’s best performance to date. With All-America Alaina Johnson sidelined consecutive meets and Kytra Hunter battling a stomach-flu, the Gators never wavered.
Florida registered the program’s second score of 198.000 or above since setting the mark against UCLA in 2004. With it, the Gators own the two highest scores in the NCAA this season.
More importantly, UF’s battle-tested roster rose up for the occasion.
“Come NCAAs, SECs, regionals, we’re going to put our best team out there, and as of right now, I have no worries about what our team is going to look like,” Bridget Sloan said.
Sloan and company pieced together Florida’s best floor routine by far, posting a 49.650 — 0.46 higher than its season average — for the final event. Sloan delivered a clean floor routine of 9.925.
She also took the evening’s all-around with a collegiate-best 39.675. The score represents the nation’s second highest total behind Kytra Hunter’s 39.70.
“I was excited from the very moment I woke up to compete and to get out there inside that arena,” said Sloan. “We blew it out of the water tonight.”
Senior All-America Ashanee Dickerson followed suit and nailed her routine, with barely a bounce out of place. She played to the crowd especially well and finished with Florida’s seventh near-perfect score of 9.975 on floor.
“[Bridget] Sloan had an amazing routine before I went, and I knew that we were just going to keep going up from there,” Dickerson said.
Florida’s performance on its biggest stage yet confirms what the nation knew prior to its meet: UF is the most-talented squad in the country.
Freshman Bridget Sloan performs her beam routine in Florida’s 197.65-196.025 win against Auburn on Jan. 25 at home.
