In the first set of Florida’s opening-round NCAA matchup Friday against Missouri, the Gators never saw a lead.
Dominant serving streaks from the Tigers put immediate pressure on UF’s passers, and Florida’s offense struggled to find a rhythm in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
But once the Gators forced a turnaround and found a way out of their slump toward the end of their first-set loss, a 3-1 (23-25, 25-16, 25-20, 25-16) victory for Florida (25-5) against Missouri (21-13) wasn’t far behind.
“You could see in set one, the momentum really shifted,” associate head coach Dave Boos said. “We ran out of runway there. We were really close to coming back there, 25-23, and if we played to 30, I think we’d win that one. But it’s a matter of persevering through that and clicking more.”
Once Florida caught on to Missouri’s initial strategy, the Gators were able to creep closer to the Tigers and eventually overtake them.
“It’s very clear that their concept there was to negate our size and athleticism with their speed,” Boos said. “They were trying to run fast sets to the outside. That’s a low ball. It’s really tough to get two blockers there — you’re not going to most of the time. That’s where the backcourt defense came into play so much.”
The defensive effort put forth by the Gators was headlined by redshirt freshman Taylor Unroe and freshman Holly Pole, who recorded 23 digs and 20 digs, respectively, in their first NCAA Tournament match.
“You’ve got to give credit to our back-row defense for getting 82 digs,” Boos said, “but, more importantly, they held Missouri to .019 or lower in the last three sets going .000, .019 and .000. That’s a good offensive team.”
Missouri hit a meager .071 total in the match, as the Gators held middle blocker Lisa Henning, who led the Big 12 in kills per set, to just 16 on the night, alongside 10 attack errors.
Meanwhile, Florida fueled off its defensive strength and found senior Kristy Jaeckel for a game-high 19 kills in her double-double performance with 14 digs.
Senior Kelly Murphy also was crucial to UF’s offensive prowess, as she earned her 28th career triple-double on 10 kills, 12 digs and 28 assists.
Although the Gators combined to hit .255, Boos identified the need for Florida to capitalize on all its hitters in NCAA play going forward — especially its middles.
“A couple big sets toward the end of that set made the difference and that’s going to be the key for us here – to continue to be balanced offensively,” Boos said. “No one’s going to stop Chloe Mann. A bad set here or there might limit her, but you’re not going to stop her. And Betsy Smith’s been unbelievable all year offensively, so we have to keep feeding them the ball.”
