There is no such thing as style points in volleyball.
It wasn’t stylish, it wasn’t flashy, but a sweep is still a sweep.
And on the road in conference play, the Gators will take it, even if they didn’t look as dominant as they probably should have been.
The 25-20, 25-20, 25-21 win over LSU is Florida’s 10th sweep of the season and its fourth in conference play.
The No. 13 Gators (15-3, 6-1 SEC) jumped out to an early 8-4 lead in the first set. LSU (10-8, 4-4 SEC) responded by scoring seven of the next nine to take an 11-10 lead. After the teams were tied at 11 and again at 12, UF outscored LSU 13-8 to end the frame.
Florida’s .220 hitting percentage in the set was its lowest of the match.
The second set was even tighter than the first. Its back-and-forth nature resembled more of a ping-pong match than a volleyball game.
Neither team led by more than three points until the Gators took a 23-19 lead on a 7-1 run late in the frame. There were 10 ties during the set until the Gators emerged with a 25-20 win.
The Tigers took a 7-4 lead to begin the third frame, but Florida recorded seven of the next nine points for an 11-9 advantage. The Gators led by as much as six, but the Tigers cut it down to two at 19-17, and the deficit was too much as Hammons buried a kill to complete the sweep.
Sunday was not one of the Gators’ best performances this season. Their .276 hitting percentage is only slightly above their hitting percentage for the season (.266). They allowed the Tigers to hit .214, the fifth-highest they have allowed all season.
Outside hitter Thayer Hall and opposite attacker Holly Carlton combined for 30 kills on 61 swings. Florida desperately needed those performances because the rest of the team only totaled 17 kills on 55 swings with six attack errors.
LSU outside hitter Taylor Bannister terrorized the Gators’ defense the entire afternoon. The junior hammered 20 kills on 42 swings and carried the Tigers’ offense. Bannister had as many kills as the rest of the team combined.
Follow Brendan Farrell on Twitter @Bfarrell727. Contact him at bfarrell@alligator.org
Holly Carlton combined with Thayer Hall to log 30 kills Sunday.
