Taylor Brauneis put on a show even before the first point of her last regular-season game in the O’Connell Center.
“Mary had me and Denise (Belcher) sing (the national anthem) at our summer camp, so she just wanted us to sing it for senior night,” Brauneis said. “It was exciting. I think my parents were pretty surprised.”
Once the singing had finished, the setter went on to prove why she has been one of the most effective players at her position in the nation during her two years in Gainesville.
Brauneis had 39 assists en route to No. 7 Florida’s (26-3, 15-2 Southeastern Conference) three-set win (25-16, 25-19, 25-20) over LSU (16-11, 6-9 SEC) Friday night in one of Florida’s last chances to potentially earn a top seed for the NCAA Tournament.
The final home match of the season was also the last time redshirt senior middle blocker Chole Mann donned a home jersey, and she lived up to expectations.
The Gainesville native had 10 kills on a hitting percentage of .714 and ended the match with the final kill. She is currently hitting .505 on the season and could become the NCAA all-time leader in the category with only one game remaining.
“I think that’s the most fun we’ve ever before,” Brauneis said. “We played really, really well and it showed.”
Despite the high energy from the team and crowd, it took a little bit of time before the Gators were able to start any kind of attack. LSU forced long rallies and didn’t allow Florida to breeze in its last home match.
The Tigers trailed 10-12 in the first set and later held off two match points before the Gators began to slowly pull away. The Tigers hit just .214 in the match, including .065 in the first set, with four players hitting below .000 for the match.
While the program is losing two stars in Brauneis and Mann after this season, some of the future was displayed against LSU. Sophomore middle blocker Simone Antwi, who will likely assume a good portion of Mann’s duties next season, had seven kills on a .385 hitting percentage.
Fellow sophomore Gabby Mallette also had a solid game after registering a team high 15 kills at a.458 clip. The outside hitter had her work cut out as four of the players on LSU are 6-foot-2 or taller.
“Even just being here, Taylor B. is the only person to set me and I’ve always played next to Chloe,” she said. “They both just have such a presence on and off the court.
The Gators will cap off the regular season on the road when they head to Lexington, Ky., on Wednesday to take on the Wildcats in their final match of the season.
Follow RJ Schaffer on Twitter @rjschaffer.
Redshirt senior middle blocker Chloe Mann spikes the ball, after a set-up by fellow senior Taylor Brauneis, for the match-winning kill during No. 7 Florida's sweep of LSU on Friday night in the O'Connell Center.
