By james art BATON ROUGE, LA – The No. 23 Florida volleyball team posted its second straight shutout Sunday afternoon, defeating LSU 3-0 (25-10, 25-18, 25-17) at the Pete Maravich Gathering Center. The Gators improve to 4-3 in conference play en route to a 13-5 overall record.
All-American setter Alexis Stuckey dished out 31 assists to Florida’s .367 hitting captain as the Gators recorded just seven offensive errors in 79 attempts. Sophomore All-American Kennedy Martin led the offense with 12 kills as a fifth-year outside hitter AC Fitzpatrick also finished in double figures with 10. Redshirt senior Isabel Martin followed by eight of her own and a duo of freshmen Jaela Auguste (3) and Alec Roth (2) combined for five.
Defensively, the Gators held the Tigers to a .111 hitting percentage, with Auguste leading in blocks with five. Stuckey dropped four of his own, while three other players contributed one block assist: Fitzpatrick, K. Martin and Rothe.
Libero Eli McKissock led the backcourt with 14 tackles, with six Gators also adding two or more tackles to the stat sheet: Issy Martin (4), Fitzpatrick (4), C. Martin (3), Stuckey (2), Jr. Emily Canaan (2), Freshman Taylor Parks (2).
Behind the service line, Canaan dropped five of Florida’s eight aces to match a career high, while McKissock added three of her own.
Records
No. 23 Florida (13-5, 4-3 SEC)
LSU (11-7, 3-4 SEC)
How it happened
Set 1
- The Gators grabbed an early 3-0 lead in the first set and extended their lead to 5-1 on back-to-back kills from Fitzpatrick. With K. Martin at the service line, Florida took a 10-2 lead and forced LSU to use its first timeout. Off the huddle, Gator miscues allowed the Tigers to pile up three points, but back-to-back blocks by Stuckey and Rothe made it 16-6, prompting LSU to use its second timeout. After the break, Florida refused to let anything fall, taking everything the Tigers threw their way to go on a 5-0 run after McKissock’s layup. A layup by Auguste put the exclamation point as the Gators closed out the first set with a 25-10 win.
- Team Stats for Set 1 | .400 % on hit | 12 kills | 12 Digs | 11 assists | 4.0 Team Blocks | 1 ace
Set 2
- The Tigers were able to take a two-point lead early in the second set, but back-to-back kills by K. Martin tied the game at four. Points were traded, but the Gators were up 10 on an LSU serving error. K. Martin found space over the block to extend Florida’s lead to 12-10. The sophomore added two more points to the score after the Gators went into the media timeout with a 15-13 advantage. After the break, a 10-foot layup by Auguste kept the momentum going and the Canaan Aces were forced to call a timeout after the Gators took a 20-16 lead. Out of the huddle, Canaan tallied his third straight ace as Issy Martin reeled off back-to-back kills to put him on point. The Tigers held on, but a K. Martin attack secured the 25-18 win in the second set.
- Set 2 team stats | .333 Hitting % | 14 kills | 13 Digs | 12 assists | 3 aces | 1.0 Team block
Set 3
- A kill by Stuckey forced the Tigers to call an early timeout after Florida took a 7-2 lead. From the huddle, the Tigers slowly closed to within four, but a kill by K. Martin put Florida ahead at the half with a 15-10 advantage. A return attack from K. Martin brought Canaan back to the service line, where the junior dropped her fourth ace of the match to bring the Gators to match point. A successful challenge by Coach Wise made it 20-16 after Florida went on a 3-0 run to force an LSU timeout. A Tiger hitting error brought it to match point and Fitzpatrick recorded her 10th kill of the match to secure Sunday’s sweep for the Gators after a 25-18 third-set win.
- Set 3 team stats | .375 Hit % | 10 kills | 9 assists | 6 Digs | 4 aces | 1.0 Team blocks
Famous people
- A player equaled her career:
- Two Gators finished with double-digit kills: Kennedy Martin (12) and AC Fitzpatrick (10)
- Florida improves to 53-14 (50-6 under Wise) in the all-time series against LSU
- The Gators are now 31-7 in three-set matches against the Tigers
- UF has a 22-7 record when playing LSU in Baton Rouge, La.
- Florida moves to 7-3 in three-set matches during the 2024 season
- The Gators improve to 4-3 when they play on Sunday
- UF posts a 3-2 record in October games
- Kennedy Martin 12 Kills continues her streak of recording double-digit kills in every game she’s played in while wearing the orange and blue
- Eli McKissock ranks 2nd in career digs (1,912) 8th in career aces (131) and 21st in career assists (498) in program history
- Alexis Stuckey ranks 14th in career assists in program history with 1,779
Next up
- Florida has the week off before hosting Tennessee in the Florida Pink Game on Friday, Oct. 25 at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. First serve is set for 7:00 p.m., and pink tumblers will be given away to the first 1,000 fans.
- Gator fans not in attendance can watch Friday’s game on SEC Network or listen on 98.1FM/850AM. Also, follow @GatorsVB on social media for game updates as well as live stats, which can be found on the FloridaGators.com volleyball schedule page.
- Fans can purchase single match tickets for the remaining matches. To purchase, click here. For more information on football tickets, call the Gator Ticket Office at (352) 375-4683.
No. 23 Florida vs. Tennessee
Friday, October 25 | 7 p.m. ET
Exactech Arena – Gainesville, Florida.
SECN | listen | Live stats | Tickets
Information about the series
- Series record 55-14 (51-9 under Wise)
- 3 sets: 41-2; 4-set: 12-4; 5-set: 2-8
- Home: 28-8; Away: 26-5; Neutral: 1-1
- Last Exit | L, 2-3 | H| 25-23, 14-25, 25-20, 23-25, 13-15
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