Last year, Florida relied on senior setter Taylor Brauneis.
This year, the weight of the setter position rests heavily on Mackenzie Dagostino’s shoulders.
In Florida’s season opener Friday, the Gators faced off against Georgia Southern (0-3) and Idaho (1-2).
From the first serve of the Georgia Southern game, it was smooth sailing for Dagostino and her teammates — the Gators swept both the Eagles and the Vandals — but it was on Saturday that fans began to see Dagostino’s fatigue from playing back-to-back games against fast and gritty teams.
After playing just 47 sets in her first year at UF, Dagostino spent almost all of her time on the court in the two days of competition, a decision coach Mary Wise credits to trying to build Dagostino and her teammates confidence in the setter.
"She really made great strides, just from last night to today in finding the rhythm with her hitters," Wise said after Florida’s 3-2 win against Oklahoma University (2-1) on Saturday.
"You can’t demonstrate this atmosphere in practice. To be there in this situation in set five, to be able to make the sets. You change your quarterback, that’s a huge change for any team. We have a lot of work to do, both defensively and offensively, but we also like what the future looks like."
Those strides that Wise is referring to are Dagostino’s staggering escalation in her assists (Georgia Southern, 23, Idaho, 38, and Oklahoma, 51) and the junior’s ability to move all over the court.
Throughout the sets, the Tampa native consistently improved her game. In Florida’s sweep of Idaho she had nine assists in the first set, 14 assists in the second and 15 in the third.
In her third and final match of the weekend, Dagostino recorded 51 assists in the five-set match — breaking her single-game record of 43 assists set against FSU on Oct. 14, 2012.
With her progression in the starting setter position and Wise’s choice to keep her in for every set, Dagostino played a total of 11 sets by Saturday night and was only subbed once with freshman setter Abby Detering, who managed only three assists before the end of the match against Georgia Southern.
While Detering came to Florida in spring, Dagostino’s experience under Brauneis gives her the leg up for the starting position.
So while Wise is focused on keeping Dagostino in sets as long as possible, Dagostino said there is no guarantee to her starting.
"The good thing about how Mary has this whole system set up is, yes you do have a starter, but you always have an opportunity to fight for a position," Dagostino said on Wednesday. "So even though technically I am a starter right now, Abby and I will always be competing in the gym."
While Detering — a lefty with a list of accolades that dates as far back as 2011 — waits for her chance to start or even to relieve Dagostino for a few rotations, for now she’ll be on the sidelines scouting the team – essentially taking on the same position Dagostino was in a year earlier, a position Dagostino said made her a more confident player.
"Last year, having Taylor and I consistently compete for a position it kind of built that confidence with myself, that ‘hey I can do this even though, Taylor’s here right now,’" Dagostino said. "I know exactly what I have to do starting into next season."
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Junior Mackenzie Dagostino sets the ball during Florida's 3-2 win against Oklahoma.
