GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Kristy Jaeckel and Stephanie Ferrell provided 11 kills each and No. 13 Florida totaled an impressive .368 team hitting percentage to notch a 3-0 sweep over the LSU volleyball team [16-25, 23-25, 8-25] Sunday in-front of 2,331 fans at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
The Tigers (11-6, 4-3 SEC) had an opportunity to even the match at a set apiece during the second stanza. Down 21-19, Helen Boyle and Michele Williams connected for out-of-system kills on consecutive plays to rally LSU and even the tally at 21-21.
The Gators were forced to burn a timeout. Out of the break, Williams teamed with Marissa Maas for a block of Jaeckel to vault LSU ahead, 22-21. The Tigers carried a 23-22 edge before Florida tallied three straight points to end the frame. Ferrell knocked back-to-back spikes, while a Madie Jones sideout attempt rolled along the tape of the net and ended on the LSU side to hand Florida a 25-23 win.
“We had a window of opportunity in the second set, but the window slammed shut after the break,” head coach Fran Flory said. “You have to give Florida credit for that. The disappointing thing is that we didn’t do a good job of controlling things on our side of the net. That was the message to the team before the match. It didn’t matter who was on the other side. If we were able to control things and play our style, we could have been successful. We did that during the second set and stood toe-to-toe with them. We weren’t as resilient and as tough as we needed to be in a tough environment.”
Florida (13-3, 6-1 SEC) jumped out to early 10-4 advantages during the first and third sets. The Gators didn’t look back and won each of the frames going away by 25-16 and 25-8 margins.
UF tallied a 79 percent sideout percentage for the match. Kelly Murphy distributed 21 assists to go along with six digs and four kills, while Tangerine Wiggs slapped eight kills on 13 flawless swings for a .615 hitting clip. Defensively, Taylor Unroe recorded 16 digs to pace the Gators.
“Murphy is a great player,” Flory said. “When her offense isn’t working, she’s going to find a way to influence play and help others. I have a ton of respect for her as a player. Jaeckel and Ferrell also are two outstanding outside hitters. Both are very physical, they hit the ball extremely quick and hard.”
Jones, Williams and Desiree Elliott paced the Tigers with six kills each. For Elliott, it ended her run of 12 straight matches with 10 or more kills.
Malorie Pardo finished with 21 assists, but LSU was limited to a season-low .027 hitting percentage. On the back row, Meghan Mannari reeled in 14 digs and has reached double figure scoops in 14 of 16 appearances.
“We can be successful and beat just about anybody,” Flory said. “Our kids have to understand and listen to play the way we need them to. The bottom line is we need a little more time with people doing different things. I’m very proud of how we played Friday, we knew we had to get at least 1-of-2 on the road this weekend. We fought hard through portions of this match, but couldn’t sustain our effort.”
LSU returns to the friendly confines of the Maravich Center and opens a four-match homestand Friday against Georgia. First serve for the program’s annual “Pink Match” is slated for 7 p.m. with live video and live stats offered through the Geaux Zone on LSUsports.net. In-match updates also are available via the program’s social media outlets at http://twitter.com/lsuvolleyball or LSU Volleyball on Facebook.
Fans can take advantage of the second of four “Friday Night Meal Deal” featuring broiled Fish, rice pilaf, and ratatouille. The three-course meal is available for $7 starting at 6 p.m. inside the Courtside Club located at the Northwest Corridor entrance of the arena. Fans can preorder the meal by emailing promotions@lsu.edu or by calling Katie at (225) 578-5050 with the quantity and names.
For every home match, LSU volleyball also will be collecting books as part of its season-long book drive to benefit Everybody Reads Program through Volunteer in Public Schools. Fans are asked to bring new or used elementary level books to help local students. For more information, visit www.lsusports.net/geauxbooks.