First-set losses have plagued Florida’s volleyball team all season.
So when the Gators suddenly found themselves in a 0-2 hole at Arkansas on Sunday, things weren’t looking up for the team’s last Southeastern Conference road game.
But No. 19 Florida battled its way back into the match for the Gators’ first comeback victory from a 0-2 deficit since 2008 to earn a 3-2 win (18-25, 30-32, 25-21, 26-24, 15-9) against the unranked Razorbacks.
“I couldn’t be more proud of this team,” coach Mary Wise said. “That was our single biggest win of the entire year. With all Arkansas was playing for and how well they were playing, understand I’m not sure they made — in the first two sets combined — over four unforced errors. They played lights out.”
Early in the match, the Gators’ defense struggled with playing out of system as Arkansas’ offense fired on all cylinders.
A first-set loss was followed by two costly service errors during set-point situations for Florida that led to an eventual 30-32 drop in the second.
But the Gators knew they hadn’t yet reached their potential and channeled the same energy they used to gain a comeback win at LSU on Friday night.
“Nothing went our way in terms of breaks,” Wise said, “so going down 0-2 … they didn’t lack the confidence. They felt like, ‘It’s still in there, there’s still another level we can go.’ And they did.”
Although Arkansas’ Jasmine Norton hit her way to 24 kills in the effort and proved to be Florida’s biggest obstacle, the Gators’ defense began to break down her attack in the middle of the match.
At the same time, the team turned to its newest middle for a successful attack of their own. Sophomore Chloe Mann continued her recent dominance for Florida with a career-high 19 kills.
Senior Kristy Jaeckel also put away 19 kills for the Gators while fellow senior Kelly Murphy added 15 kills and 32 assists to Florida’s effort.
Even with those numbers from Florida’s attack, the Razorbacks still out-hit the Gators with a .280 clip compared to UF’s .268.
But as Wise pointed out, hitting efficiency isn’t always the key to a victory.
“We did outscore them,” Wise said. “Yes, their hitting efficiency was better than us, but we did have 11 more kills and had three more aces.”
Next up for Florida is a three-game home stand, beginning with a match against Georgia on Friday in the O’Connell Center at 7 p.m.
