When the Florida volleyball team marched into Reed Arena to face defending Southeastern Conference champion Texas A&M on Sunday afternoon, the Gators were expecting a battle.
And they got one.
In a hard-fought fourth set in College Station, Texas, Florida led 24-16 with a chance to put the match away.
The Aggies' junior hitter Ashlie Reasor, who bothered Florida’s defense throughout the contest, went up for a kill to get her team back into the match.
And as if she launched off a springboard, UF’s 6-foot-4 middle blocker Rhamat Alhassan rocketed into the air, slamming the ball back toward the other side of the court for a block, simultaneously silencing the crowd and A&M’s comeback bid.
The No. 9 Gators (16-2, 6-1 SEC) defeated the Aggies (11-7, 5-2 SEC) in four sets, and Alhassan deserved most of the credit. The junior All-American had a career night, slamming down 22 kills to the tune of a .528 hitting percentage.
She was also responsible for 27.5 of the Gators’ points and registered 10 total blocks for her first double-double of the season.
“Rhamat put on one of the best performances of any Gator of all time,” UF coach Mary Wise said in a release. “She was that special.”
Florida opened the first set on a 5-0 run, but A&M fought back. Led by Reasor, who had seven kills in the first set, the Aggies pushed the Gators to the brink.
But with Florida leading 26-25, redshirt junior outside hitter Shainah Joseph rose up for a block to give the Gators an early 1-0 lead in the match.
In the second frame, it was all A&M. The Gators had no answer for the Aggies’ one-two punch of Kiara McGee and Hollann Hans, who combined for seven kills in the 25-21 win in set 2.
The Gators, fueled by the offense and defense of Alhassan and senior Alex Holston, who was second on the team with 17 kills, began the third set on an 8-3 run.
But yet again, the Aggies refused to go away, responding with a series of rallies aided by the hard hitting of McGee and Hans, who tallied 14 kills apiece.
However, with her team up 24-23, Joseph, who struggled with her hitting for much of the match, connected on a flat-footed tip shot that gave the Gators a 2-1 lead in the match.
And despite A&M’s resolve and quick offense, Florida’s skill proved to be too much.
The Gators dominated the fourth and final set 25-16, holding the Aggies to a lowly .027 hitting percentage in the process.
Wise said Florida had a difficult time adjusting to A&M’s attack early on but credited the play of her team’s defense as a significant part of a win with huge conference implications.
With the victory, the Gators now sit third in the conference standings behind No. 23 Kentucky and Missouri, who are both undefeated in SEC play.
“Major, major respect for this program,” Wise said of A&M. “We’re just fortunate that tonight we got the better of them.”
A radio broadcast contributed to this report.
Contact Ray Boone at rboone@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @rboone1994.
UF middle blocker Rhamat Alhassan swings for a kill during Florida's 3-0 win against Ole Miss on Sept. 25 in the O'Connell Center.
