When the Tigers came to Gainesville for Florida’s Southeastern Conference home opener, they knew exactly how they would get points on the board.
In the first two sets, Missouri was able to put up 12.5 blocks to keep Florida’s powerhouse hitting down to .167. Although they stayed close in those sets, it was setter Taylor Brauneis who helped the No. 13 Gators (9-2, 3-0 SEC) get ahead in a 3-0 (25-22, 26-24, 25-17) sweep against Missouri (10-3, 2-1 SEC).
“I have to be offensive just because with Ziva (Recek) in the front row, I’m front row and Chloe (Mann) is front row but they can’t do all the work,” Brauneis said. “I have to get them one-on-ones, and for me to do that I have to be offensive.”
The second set was the highlight of Brauneis’ match offensively. While the pin hitters were struggling to break through Missouri’s front line with only a .071 hitting percentage, the junior transfer found holes as she led the Gators by hitting .667 with two kills.
“I have to just see if they’re off balance,” Brauneis said. “If they’re off balance, then I know it’s a good time to dump or be offensive.”
During the third set Florida turned things around offensively and recorded 17 kills against only 3 errors. They also out hit Missouri .412 to .200 and out blocked the Tigers with 2 blocks in the final set to secure the win.
“It was obvious that Missouri wasn’t going to let Chloe nor Betsy (Smith) have free looks,” coach Mary Wise said. “They were going to dare us to set away from them. We got a little bull headed at times but once we took what they gave us then Gabby (Mallette), Ziva, Tangerine (Wiggs) did such a good job.”
Contact Katie Agostin at kagostin@alligator.org.
