After a strong start to the fourth set, the No. 5 Florida volleyball team was tied with Tennessee at 20.
That’s when everything clicked.
The Gators (13-2, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) went on a 5-0 run to close out the set and win the match 3-1.
“It’s going for it,” junior libero Caroline Knop said. “Mary (Wise) talked a lot today about just going for it.”
In the final set, a one-handed dig by Knop led to an attack error by UT hitter Kanisha Jimenez and sent the home crowd into a frenzy. It gave Florida the push it lacked in Wednesday’s loss to Kentucky.
“We wanted to play Thursday afternoon,” Knop said. “When we came into practice, we were ready to play this Tennessee team.”
The first set opened evenly, with both teams trading blows until they were even at 19. Freshman middle blocker Rachael Kramer stepped up, earning 5 kills with a .667 hitting percentage in the set. Florida closed out the set 25-21 after two crucial kills by senior right side hitter Alex Holston.
A similar theme began the second set, but Tennessee (10-6, 1-3 SEC) took advantage of seven UF errors to create a cushion between the two teams and took the set 25-19.
“I thought the team had to have a major gut check after set two,” Florida coach Mary Wise said.
With the match tied at one, the Gators started to take control thanks to the veteran play of Holston and juniors Carli Snyder and Rhamat Alhassan. The three combined for 40 of Florida’s 63 kills.
Redshirt junior Shainah Joseph impacted the game as well.
The outside hitter tallied nine kills and provided a spark in late game situations, including the final kill in the third set.
The Gators now have a full week off before another early Sunday matchup against South Carolina.
This will mark the first full week of practice and rest for the Gators since their Aug. 27 match against Oregon.
“It’s amazing that we were able to get through with the record that we have, Wise said.
“That really speaks volumes about this group.”
Contact Skyler Lebron at Slebron@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @SkylerLebron.
Caroline Knop serves during Florida's 3-0 win over Jacksonville at the Lemerand Athletic Center on Sept. 16, 2016.
