During the first set of Florida’s match against Miami, the Gators looked uncharacteristically out of sync.
For a team that leads the Southeastern Conference in hitting efficiency, UF had a -.029 hitting percentage, nine errors and no blocks.
But then the first set ended, and so did Florida’s troubles.
The No. 8 seed Gators (27-3) bounced back from a poor start to defeat the Hurricanes (22-9) 3-1 (13-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-21) and advance to the NCAA tournament’s sweet 16.
“After Set 1, we talked about how it was like a boxing match. (Miami) just connected with a knockout punch,” coach Mary Wise said. “This was not by any stretch of the imagination… an easy win, but it sure was a team win.”
Three different Florida players finished with double digit kills, most notably sophomore Alex Hoslton, who finished with 19 after finding her rhythm in the second set.
Junior Gabby Mallette saw extended playing time and ended the night with 12 kills on 22 attempts.
“It just took us getting that one set out of the way,” Mallette said. “I wouldn’t have been able to do what I did with out Holly (Pole) and without (Mackenzie Dagostino).
“I think at some times we get very frantic, and we just need that moment to be like,’ya’ll we’re OK.’”
As with the rest of her teammates, Dagostino struggled to connect with her hitters in the first set, but ultimately overcame the rough start to finish with 51 assists.
“Everyone has a point when they struggle, but what’s so great about this team is we’re so good at picking each other up,” Dagostino said. “(Miami) didn’t have enough time to really get inside of our head.”
Despite the four-set victory, Florida was unable to contain Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year Savanah Leaf. The senior finished with 20 kills, 10 digs, two service aces and three total blocks.
“They’re great players. I think this whole team has great players,” Leaf said of Florida. “We were right there with them, it just came down to a few different plays that we could have made.”
Next, Florida will travel to Ames, Iowa to face No. 9 seed Illinois in the Sweet 16.
“Whichever opponent we’ll be playing next weekend is gonna come off of two wins, and now they’re on a roll,” Wise said. “So it doesn’t get any easier from this point.”
Follow Ian Cohen on Twitter @ICohenB
Sophomore right-side hitter Alex Holston swings for a kill attempt during No. 8 seed Florida's 3-1 win against Miami in the second round of the NCAA Tournaent on Saturday in the O'Connell Center.
