Last year in College Station, Ziva Recek hit .170 as Florida snuck past Texas A&M in five sets.
On Friday night in Gainesville, Recek’s hitting efficiency dropped to .077, but the No. 3 Gators (14-1, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) found other weapons on offense to take down the Aggies (9-4, 1-1) in three straight sets (25-9, 25-23, 25-17).
Coach Mary Wise said the Slovenian’s role on the team isn’t what it was when she was a freshman last year. Instead of having to rely on Recek as the entire offense, Wise is using her in other roles while giving players like Alex Holston and Simone Antwi more opportunities offensively.
“Ziva’s numbers may not jump out at you in terms of her kill percentage, but remember we ask so much of her,” Wise said. “She passed very well, touched balls on the block. She goes back to serve (and) we get a lot of points out of it. Ziva understands how valuable she is to our team even if she’s not killing balls.”
In three sets, Recek only recorded five kills on 26 swings. Her three errors on the night also tied Gabby Mallette for most on Florida’s offense.
But when Recek fell short with her attacking game, Antwi and Holston stepped up to lead the Gators in kills.
Mallette said the options on the front line and the skills of setter Taylor Brauneis to get her weapons the ball are the two major factors in Florida’s victory Friday night.
“There’s so much depth, so there’s so many people to go to,” Mallette said. “For Taylor (Brauneis), as a setter, you trust your hitters a lot more and I think having so many people gives her confidence and us because she’s such a great setter.”
And although Texas A&M limited Florida to just three blocks following the Gators’ 15-block performance against Ole Miss on Sunday, Brauneis said her squad’s serving game was strong enough to throw the Aggies out of system.
“It starts with the first contact,” the senior setter said. “Our serving and passing battle, we won that. I think it’s just a full team effort in terms of serving and passing.”
With Florida’s win over Texas A&M in the O’Connell Center, Wise earned her 700th victory while at the helm of Gators’ volleyball.
Since Wise took over in 1991, Florida has dropped only 81 matches.
“We were focused winning the game for ourselves, but it was history for Mary too,” Mallette said. “I think for all of us, we were honored to be playing for her because she’s a really great coach and she deserves it.”
Follow Jonathan Czupryn on Twitter @jczupryn.
Ziva Recek reaches for the ball during Florida’s four-set victory against Western Michigan on Sept. 14 in the O’Connell Center.
