Florida kissed its chance at a Southeastern Conference title goodbye Friday night, while Missouri is one step closer to its first.
No. 5 Florida (23-3, 12-2 SEC) lost to No. 7 Missouri (30-0, 14-0 SEC) in three sets (25-22, 25-23, 25-23) in front of a season-high 5,023 fans in attendance in the O’Connell Center.
In their fourth matchup as SEC opponents, the Gators suffered their second loss to the Tigers. The first came in four sets on Oct. 20.
“They’re in a really good position to win the league, so I congratulate them on a great year, how well they played both matches,” coach Mary Wise said.
Florida knew Friday night’s match would be no easy feat. Missouri leads the conference in hitting percentage, kills, service aces, assists and blocks.
There were 14 tied scores and seven lead changes in the first set alone. A service ace from Missouri’s Emily Thater followed by a kill from Emily Wilson won the Tigers the first set 25-22.
The Tigers took a quick lead in the second set and the Gators trailed until things evened out at 21-21. From there, it was a point-by-point battle between the two. A long rally finished with a kill by Missouri’s Wilson ended the second set 25-23.
“It’s just figuring out a way to be consistent,” sophomore setter Mackenzie Dagostino said. “Figuring out a way to finish the game and that’s what Missouri did really well. They figured out how to finish the game.”
For both teams, kills were far and few between on Friday. The Gators managed 49 and the Tigers notched 47.
“It’s hard to touch balls,” Wise said of Missouri’s quick offense. “It’s hard to touch balls on the block, it’s hard to touch balls on digs.”
UF struggled with service errors. Though the team preaches balance in aces and errors, the Gators only served only one ace Friday but racked up 11 service errors.
In the third set, UF prevented Missouri from scoring until Taylor Brauneis’ service error put the Tigers on the scoreboard at 5-1. From there, Missouri rallied to tie the set at 5-5.
“We came out with a five-point lead because we were being the Gators,” Dagostino said. “We’ve been doing that all year and I just think we have to figure out how to keep that momentum towards the end.”
After being swept for the second time this season, Florida’s chances at leading the SEC are gone. The Gators will move on to defend its No. 2 conference ranking in Sunday afternoon’s home match against Alabama.
“We learn from this and know that this is the type of team if we’re fortunate enough to get to a regional this will be the type of team we have to play,” Wise said. “We’ve got a month to get better and hopefully narrow the gap.”
Follow Erica A. Hernandez on Twitter @EricaAlyssa.
Chloe Mann and Gabby Mallette try to fend off match point against Missouri's Molly Kreklow during the Gators' 3-0 loss to the Tigers on Friday night in the O'Connell Center.
