As Alex Holston goes, so does the Gators’ volleyball team.
The junior right side hitter has been playing her best volleyball of the season, powering No. 14 Florida (20-5, 12-4 Southeastern Conference) to sweeps over Alabama and Tennessee this past weekend.
Holston tallied 31 kills — 17 against the Crimson Tide and 14 against the Volunteers — good enough to put her over the 1,000 mark for her career, no small feat.
While her overall hitting efficiency in 2015 is down from her career average, Holston has seen a resurgence in recent weeks, leading or sharing a lead for the Gators in total kills in five of the last six matches.
This season, Holston is averaging 3.34 kills per set and ranks seventh in the Southeastern Conference.
This past weekend, she hit a combined .428 with just four attack errors.
“To hit over .400 for two consecutive matches really speaks volumes to how … our players hit, especially Alex,” coach Mary Wise said.
Holston’s stellar play hasn’t gone unnoticed. On Monday, she was named the SEC Player of the Week and Offensive Player of the week.
Also receiving SEC honors was senior setter Mackenzie Dagostino, who was named the conference’s Setter of the Week.
Dagostino had 100 assists this weekend, including 48 on Sunday against Tennessee. She now ranks among the top-10 in the all-time assist category at Florida, coming in at No. 9 with 2,429 for her career. Dagostino is tied for first in the SEC along with Sierra Wilson of Alabama and is ranked 17th in the country in assists per set, averaging 11.75.
Holston and Dagostino are propelling a Florida offense that is hitting .324, first in the nation, but struggled during a Nov. 8 road loss to Auburn.
“Following last weekend, one of our points of emphasis was to clean up our offense and become more efficient (with) the setter hitter connection,” coach Wise said.
However, while Florida’s offense has been mostly dominant, its defense has struggled in recent matches.
Despite holding opponents to a league-best .163 hitting clip, Florida let Alabama and Tennessee hit .220 and .286, respectively.
Currently ranked third in the SEC with 2.71 blocks per set, Florida only averaged just over one per set this weekend, totaling seven blocks in six sets. With only three regular season contests left, that number will need to improve quickly.
Like the old cliche goes, offense wins games, but defense wins championships.
If Florida is to have success in the SEC and NCAA tournaments, it is going to have to ensure that its defensive intensity is able to keep up with the offense’s efficiency.
“We can only control our team getting better because our main goal, the one we’ve talked about all year, is still in front of us, and that is to be playing our best volleyball in December,” Wise said.
“Our team has really bought into that. … The best of us is still ahead of us.”
Follow Brian Lee on Twitter @brianlee_17
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 2014 NCAA Tournament on Dec. 6 in the O'Connell Center.
