The score in set five was 14-13 Gators. One more point, and Florida volleyball would defeat Kansas to extend its season and reach its 31st Sweet 16 in team history.
In front of a tense crowd mostly filled with the Jayhawk’ blue and red at the Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena in Lawrence, Kansas, it was who Florida coach Mary Wise coined the Gators “slugger” that rose to the occasion: Florida sophomore outside hitter Kennedy Martin.
Sitting at her joint career high 32 kills in the bout, Kennedy Martin leaped to swing on a set from redshirt sophomore setter Alexis Stucky, and slammed it towards the opposition.
Kansas senior outside hitter Ayah Elnady dove and got a piece of the ball, but her deflection sailed into the first row of the crowd.
Perhaps the most timely kill in Kennedy Martin’s career clinched the thrilling bout in favor of the No. 6-seed Gators, who defeated No.-3 seeded Kansas 3-2 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament’s lower left region.
Kennedy Martin’s set the new UF record with her 33 kills in the match. She also recorded a service ace, four digs and three blocks
Meanwhile, Stucky, who has been in and out of the Gators’ lineup as she continues to fully recover from a knee injury in Sep. 2023, added 40 assists, two service aces and seven digs in the contest.
Graduate student outside hitter Isabel Martin added 18 kills of her own and freshman middle blocker Jaela Auguste set a new career-high with 15 kills for UF.
In the opening set, both teams traded points before the Gators began to gain momentum behind two service aces from junior liberos Emily Canaan and Emerson Hoyle, which gave UF an 11-8 lead.
From there, Florida embarked on a 5-0 run which included three kills by Kennedy Martin and a service ace by fifth-year libero Elli McKissock. However, the Jayhawks fought back to even the first set score at 20 apiece.
Ultimately, it was the Gators who regained the lead with a service ace by freshman setter Taylor Parks. Kennedy Martin then delivered her tenth kill of the match to capture set one 25-22.
Kansas regained its rhythm early in the second set with a 5-0 run en route to a 9-5 lead. The Jayhawks maintained their gap throughout the set and would eventually take set two 25-21.
Kansas senior outside hitter Carolina Bien was dominating play in the second set. She recorded seven kills and a service ace.
Meanwhile, Isabel Martin led the Gators with a five-kill second set and Kennedy Martin added five kills and a service ace..
To start set three, in came Stucky, who immediately served up an ace and facilitated an efficient Florida offense.
Despite initial back-and-forth play, the Gators put together a 4-0 run midway through the third set that featured two kills from both Isabel Martin and Kennedy Martin and gave UF a 13-11 lead.
Following Florida’s run, the Gators kept on rolling behind Stucky, and would ultimately run away with the third frame 25-17.
Stucky finished the third set with 16 assists and five digs in the set, while Auguste racked up a team-best six kills in the set, including the set-clinching kill.
Early in the fourth set, both teams traded points, leading to seven ties and five lead changes in the first half of the set.
Kansas pieced together a 3-0 run to gain an 18-13 fourth-set lead, and would eventually ride that momentum to a 24-21 lead and set point.
Nevertheless, Florida stormed back, as Kennedy Martin recorded a kill, followed up by a Stucky service ace and a Kansas attack error to tie the fourth set at 24 apiece.
However, the late heroics were not enough for the Gators in the fourth frame. A kill by Kansas senior middle blocker Toyosi Onabanjo and a Florida attack error allowed the Jayhawks to claim a 26-24 victory.
In the fifth set, the environment was tense as both teams were playing with their seasons on the line.
The Gators came out red hot, as Isabel Martin tallied two early kills and freshman middle blocker Alec Rothe recorded another kill to give the Gators a quick 4-1 fifth-frame lead.
Kansas quickly responded, recording three blocks to spring a 3-0 run of its own to bring themselves within one, 6-5.
From there, UF and KU continued trading points until Kansas captured its first lead of the fifth set, 12-11.
Florida stormed back to regain a 13-12 lead following a clutch ace by Isabel Martin in the waning moments of the match. The Gators reached a match point, and Kennedy Martin slammed down the match-clinching kill to give the Gators a 15-13 victory in the fifth and final frame.
Florida will await either No. 2-seeded Stanford or No. 7 Loyola Marymount in the Sweet 16 on either Dec. 12 or 13.
Contact Max Bernstein at mbernstein@alligator.org. Follow him on X @maxbernstein23.
