Holly Pole knew her team could do it. They just needed to be reminded.
Following Florida’s Set 1 loss to Miami on Saturday, in which Florida couldn’t seem to put together a clean offensive possession, Pole pulled her teammates to the side and told them what she already knew.
“We talked about when we were on the road at Kentucky, and we were in a similar situation there,” Pole said. “We came back in the next two sets and we were just rolling after that. So we just said it’s the same thing.”
Just like its four-set victory against then-No. 15 Kentucky, Florida rebounded from a poor start versus Miami and controlled the rest of the match.
Florida’s biggest strength is its veteran leadership, consisting of back row seniors Pole, Taylor Unroe and captain Maddy Monserez, and the guidance they are able to provide.
“Give credit to the players,” coach Mary Wise said. “Obviously Miami was on a roll, we were not ….The fact that we (rebounded) in the second set speaks to their character, to the senior leadership and to the experience of having been there.”
The team’s maturity is a large reason why the Gators have made it this far- two wins in the NCAA tournament and a Sweet 16 matchup with No. 9 seed Illinois. But as much as Florida struggled in the first set against Miami, Illinois will prove to be an even bigger challenge.
UF and UI swapped film of their second round matches to scout each other before they go head-to-head on Friday.
Illinois will look to exploit the same weaknesses that the Hurricanes managed to poke at last Saturday- UF’s poor blocking.
“I think if you saw us play in that match (against Miami) you would say be physical at the net,” Wise said. “We didn’t block particularly well, and that’s something that we will address and try to fine tune.”
At the same time, with only 16 teams left in the field of play, Florida won’t be making many significant adjustments going forward.
“At this point in time your not going to make major overhaul,” Wise said. “You’re just trying to maximize your strengths and minimize your weaknesses.”
Although Florida’s weaknesses were on full display early against Miami, Illinois is coming off of two shutouts in which they held its opponents to hitting percentages of .090 and .204.
The Gators will also have to prepare for the Fighting Illini’s outside hitter Jocelynn Birks, who compiled 37 kills, 16 digs and four total blocks over the weekend. Birks also accounted for 40 of her team’s points.
“(She’s) one of the premiere outside hitters, not only in the Big 10 but in the country,” Wise said. “(Illinois) has all of the tools. It’s not surprising that they had the success that they had and we’ll have quite the challenge come Friday night.”
Follow Ian Cohen on Twitter @ICohenB
UF players celebrate during No. 8 seed Florida's 3-1 win against Miami in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday in the O'Connell Center.
