Of the hundreds of meets, matches and games that UF athletics participated in over the 2017-18 season, only five made the final cut as nominees for the Gators’ best game of the campaign.
Our panel of Evan Lepak, Chris O’Brien, Mark Stine, Brendan Farrell and Andrew Huang rummaged through the long list of matches and games and made selections from the basketball, baseball, softball and volleyball schedules as finalists for Game of the Year in this staff report.
Evan: When I think back about some of the most exciting games in the 2017-18 Florida athletics year, there’s one that continues to replay in my head.
When the then-No. 7 UF men’s basketball team took on Gonzaga at the PK80
Invitational in Portland, Oregon, I was expecting a good game, but what unfolded before my eyes on that Black Friday had me thinking Final Four for this Gators squad.
Florida’s fast-paced offense, the one that took the college basketball world by storm early in the season, continued to impress that night, accumulating triple-digits for the fourth time in their first five games.
The Gators would go on to beat Gonzaga in double overtime, 111-105.
A slow first half had UF down 36-29 to a tough Bulldog team that came in nationally ranked.
Things would turn for the better in the second half of play with Florida scoring 49 points, leading to a deadlock at 78.
UF guard Jalen Hudson took off in the second half, scoring 22 points in the period alone.
Hudson would add nine more in the overtime periods, including a three in double OT that gave the Gators a 106-99 lead and effectively put the game out of reach.
Hudson’s teammates Chris Chiozza and KeVaughn Allen helped lead the team’s offensive charge as well, scoring 26 and 23, respectively.
Chiozza played 46 of 50 minutes and led all Gators with 10 assists. After the game, he was so exhausted that two teammates helped carry him to the locker room.
Florida’s marquee win over the Zags was huge for the team’s overall resume, as it would find itself in a tailspin afterwards, losing three straight.
@evanmplepakkk
elepak@alligator.org
Chris: The UF basketball double-OT marathon against Gonzaga could be a good selection here, but Game 3 of the baseball team’s Super Regional against Auburn on June 11 supersedes the basketball matchup.
Although the team ultimately fell short in the College World Series, the path to get to Omaha went the distance, as the Tigers refused to give the Gators anything easy.
Now a Cincinnati Reds prospect, third baseman Jonathan India got things going in the bottom of the first inning with a bomb to left field.
Auburn tied it in the third inning at one apiece, but Florida got it back in the bottom of the fourth with a little bit of trickery. Second baseman Blake Reese and center fielder Nick Horvath executed a first-and-third play where Horvath fell down on a steal to second, distracting the Tigers pitcher and allowing Reese to score.
Auburn struck again in the seventh inning to even the score at two with a sacrifice fly.
Nine innings wasn’t enough to decide the winner-take-all matchup. No, it went all the way to 11 innings.
I’m sure you’re familiar with how this story ends, but I’ll quickly recap it. Left fielder Austin Langworthy, a Williston native, uncorked a line-drive home run in the bottom of the 11th that just barely got past the right fielder and put UF in the CWS.
I was in the press box for the moment and man, it was chaos. It was such a fun contest to be in attendance for, and something I’ll remember the rest of my life. Definitely the game of the year.
@THEChrisOB
cobrien@alligator.org
Mark: The UF baseball team provided a brilliant final game in it’s Super Regional against Auburn, but the better Gainesville finale came in the softball team’s Super Regional victory over Texas A&M.
The SEC foes split each of the opening two games of the series by a one-run margin, and a bat change by freshman Jordan Matthews may decided the series.
After going 0 for 6 as Florida’s designated player in the first two series games, Matthews switched from the 24-ounce bat that she used all season to a 25-ounce bat, similar to one she used in high school.
In the rubber match, she went 3 for 4 against the Aggies’ ace, senior Trinity Harrington, and ended her night on the bottom of a dogpile at home plate.
Matthews knocked two singles and scored a run to help put UF up 2-1 heading into the seventh inning.
However, Texas A&M pulled ahead 3-2 after first baseman Tori Vidales blasted a go-ahead home run off Florida right hander Aleshia Ocasio for the second-consecutive night.
Matthews stepped into the box in the bottom of the seventh with two outs, two on and a 2-2 count. The Gators’ season hung in the balance along with a trip to the Women’s College World Series.
An offering from Harrington jumped off the freshman’s bat, sailed through the night sky and disappeared over the left-center field wall.
“It was one of the best series I’ve been a part of,” UF coach Tim Walton said. “That’s just one of those holy sh*t moments.”
@mstinejr
mstine@alligator.org
Brendan: I’m going to have to go with the volleyball Gainesville Regional final against USC. With the strongest team in years, this really felt like the season that the Gators’ volleyball team would finally break through and win the first national championship in program history.
Mary Wise, owner of the most wins of any female college volleyball coach, looked poised to claim the one thing that eluded her in her illustrious coaching career.
After breezing through their first three opponents, the Gators met their first real test of the tournament against 14th-ranked Southern California. Though they did win the first set 25-23, the Gators found themselves fighting to keep their season alive after a couple of rough sets left them trailing 2-1.
Like a pair of heavyweight boxers trading haymakers, the Gators and Trojans alternated points in a thrilling, intense fourth set. Down 24-23 and with the end of an era a point away, Shainah Joseph and Rhamat Alhassan, two members of the team’s lauded senior class, responded with a combined three-consecutive points to win the set and send the game into a tie-breaking fifth set.
Despite giving their season one last desperate breath, the Gators got off to a slow start in the fifth set, trailing 9-5. However, a double hit, a kill by senior Carli Snyder, a block and an error by USC left the game tied at nine, and the Gators never looked back, scoring 10 of the match’s last 12 points and winning the tiebreaker 15-11.
The five-set, adrenaline-filled game was the third-longest NCAA tournament game in program’s history, and it might just be the most memorable. The win would also send the Gators to their first Final Four since 2003, where they would also advance to their first national championship game since that year as well.
Between the stakes of the match and the actual game itself, I’m not sure any other game from this past year can top this.
@Bfarrell727
bfarrell@alligator.org
Andrew: You might not have seen the Florida volleyball team knock off Stanford in the Final Four of last season’s NCAA Tournament. If so, you missed UF's best match of the year.
The stage was as grand as it was historic.
The winner advanced to the national championship game, but there was much more at stake. Florida hadn’t made it that far since 2003, and coach Mary Wise – already the only female coach to reach the NCAA title game – was trying to do it again, with the help of a stellar senior class.
The match started out wonderfully for the 29-1 Gators.
They took the opening two sets from the Cardinal, holding the lead for the last 16 points of the first. They finished strong to take the second, winning three of the last four points.
Then the momentum took a sharp turn Stanford’s way. The Cardinal gained control of the match, winning the third and fourth sets handily to tie things up. Stanford used a 12-4 run to power through the third, and then opened up a 4-0 lead in the fourth. It did not trail in the period, and extended its advantage to 11-2.
But somehow, the deflated Gators turned it up a notch in the deciding fifth set. They took the lead for good thanks to a 5-0 run and scored four of the last five points to earn their elusive championship game berth.
ahuang@alligator.org
The UF volleyball team advanced to the national title game for the second time under coach Mary Wise. The Gators played thrillers against Southern California (Dec. 9) and Stanford (Dec. 14) to advance to the championship game.
