Three down, three to go.
For the first time since 2011, the Gators are heading to the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight.
No. 8 seed Florida (28-3) defeated No. 9 seed Illinois (26-8) 3-2 (25-22, 21-25, 22-25, 25-17, 16-14) Friday night, extending its overall winning streak to 23 straight matches.
Three different UF players recorded double-doubles, and Illinois was held to a .170 hitting clip and committed 32 total errors.
Freshman middle blocker Rhamat Alhassan finished with 15 kills and 10 total blocks, but it was backup blocker Shainah Joesph who came up big for the Gators down the stretch. Joseph ended the night with seven kills on 13 attempts and five blocks.
“I’ll tell you this, Shainah Joseph is a secret weapon that we’ve known about that she could do some pretty special things. But that was an unbelievable situation, the biggest situation, to step into that forefront and make the plays she did,” coach Dave Boos said. “(She) was a monster.”
With Alhassan out, Joseph accounted for three of Florida’s final seven points to close out the fifth set.
“It felt great,” Joseph said. “Mary (Wise) has been telling me all week, work on blocking, be Shainah, be aggressive, get ready because at any time I could put you in there so be ready. So thatʼs what I was today.”
Sophomore Alex Holston also had a big contribution, finishing with a team-high 22 points, 18 kills and 10 digs. Setter Mackenzie Dagostino was the third UF player to earn a double-double, compiling 51 assists, 10 digs and four kills.
It was the most closely contested match of the tournament for Florida, as the two teams tied 90 times throughout the five sets.
The Gators finally began to pull away from the Fighting Illini in the fourth set, when they took a 12-6 lead after a leaping kill from junior Gabby Mallette. Mallette tallied 10 kills and three blocks.
“At this point there is no team that you can take lightly,” Dagostino said. “So we just came in and made sure that we made the Gators play much better.”
Florida will advance to the regional finals to face No. 1 seed Stanford on Saturday at 9 pm.
“We thought we went up against a team (in Miami) that ran a fast offense last week,” coach Mary Wise said. “(Stanford) is Miami on caffeine, twice as big. It will be a huge challenge.”
Follow Ian Cohen on Twitter @icohenb
UF's Shainah Joseph swings for a kill attempt against Mississippi State. The sophomore middle blocker recorded seven kills and five blocks as No. 8 seed Florida defeated ninth-seed Illinois in the third round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday in Ames, Iowa.
