Florida found themselves down 18 to 22 in the fourth set of Friday’s match against LSU.
Coach Mary Wise called a timeout, huddled her team and posed one question to her panting players.
“What have we learned from our pre-season?”
The Gators marched back on the court, rattled off seven consecutive points and captured a 25-22 victory to seal a 3-1 win over their conference rival.
No. 9 Florida (9-3, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) defeated LSU (5-7, 0-3) in Baton Rouge, La., using the experience it gained from its pre-conference schedule to earn its third consecutive conference win.
Sophomore Alex Holston led the Gators offensively, finishing with 16 kills, five total blocks and a .452 hitting percentage.
On the opposite side of the court was LSU’s Briana Holman, who finished the night with a team leading 17 kills and seven total blocks.
“Holman was pretty much automatic,” Wise said. “But you know, we had an automatic offensive player too and that was Alex Holston. (She) really carried us for so much of that match.”
Florida jumped out to an early 6-3 lead in the first set and didn’t let up en route to a 25-12 victory.
At the start of the second set, the Tigers moved Holman to the back row. The change turned the momentum of the match, and after a series of strong digs and some help from a few UF attack errors, LSU grabbed a 25-23 win.
“Sets 1 and 2, obviously much different,” Wise said. “We didn’t do a good job scoring points when Holman went to the back row. We had a huge matchup advantage that we didn’t use.”
But the Gators adjusted in the third and jumped out to a 7-1 lead before an LSU timeout. Florida eventually took the third set 25-11 and a 2-1 lead.
Shortly after, Holston, setter Mackenzie Dagostino and blocker Simone Antwi would help the Gators erase a seven-point deficit in the fourth set to seal the match.
Junior Gabby Mallette saw extended playing time and capitalized on it, finishing with 12 kills, two assists and a team-high .524 hitting percentage.
“So proud of Gabby,” Wise said. “It has not come easy to her this year and we really needed her in terms of her physical-ness and blocking... when her name was called, she responded.”
Next, Florida will travel north to face Mississippi State on Sunday.
“As a team, we got better tonight,” Wise said. “(Mississippi State) is a brand new team, so a lot of work for us, the coaches and players (to do) before Sunday.”
A radio broadcast contributed to this report.
Follow Ian Cohen on Twitter @ICohenB
Alex Holston swings at the ball during Florida's 3-0 win against Tennessee on Oct. 27 in the O'Connell Center.
