Spending the last two years under the tutelage of Chloe Mann and Betsy Smith, middle blocker Simone Antwi proved on Saturday that she has been a good student.
Immediately following No. 6 Texas’ upset over No. 1 Penn State in the first match of the Nike Big Four Classic in Austin, Texas, No. 8 Florida continued the trend by toppling No. 2 Stanford in four sets (28-26, 25-17, 18-25, 25-22) behind Antwi’s .706 hitting percentage and four blocks.
The 6-foot-2 sophomore entered the day with 24 kills in four matches, but she added a career-high 13 kills against a Cardinal squad that finished 11th and 40th in the country last year in blocks and digs, respectively.
Coach Mary Wise said with Mann and Ziva Recek totaling 34 kills on offense, Antwi was able to have a breakout performance that helped deliver Florida’s first win over Stanford since Sept. 4, 2009.
“The double-digit kills from an offensive standpoint are fantastic,” she said. “Ziva and Chloe are our mainstays but a huge match for Simone to play this well in this environment.”
In addition to Antwi having the game of her career, the Gators were also able to keep from shooting themselves in the foot by keeping their service and block errors low.
However, the Cardinal suffered in part due to its sloppiness on the court by recording 14 service errors and six block errors compared to Florida’s eight and one, respectively.
Wise said the improved play by the back row defense was also an important key to why the Gators were able to take down the No. 2 team in the country.
“The fact that we out-dug one of the best defensive teams we'll face all year says a lot about our focus and our effort in this match,” she said.
But with Florida improving to 5-0 in the season, Wise added that there are many more games to be played, including Sunday’s match against the Nittany Lions.
“I think we build on it,” she said. “We have a whole lot of volleyball left, but we're going to rely on this video and what happened in this match to help us over the course of the season.”
Follow Jonathan Czupryn on Twitter @jczupryn.
Simone Antwi (16) receives a pass from Dana Backlund (2) during UF’s 3-0 win against Jacksonville on Sept. 7, 2012, in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
