Tennessee falls on the road to No. 1 Florida
No. 1 Florida defeated Tennessee in straight sets on Friday night.
Tennessee (8-4, 1-2 SEC) lost in straight sets to No. 1 Florida (10-0, 2-0 SEC) on Friday night at the Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville.
The Vols kept the match close early on in the first set with an 8-6 lead after successfully challenging on a touch called against freshman Madison Coulter. The lead was short-lived, and Florida went on a 7-1 run to eventually win the set 25-17. The Gators’ Rachael Kramer led in attack with a .500 hitting percentage and 6 kills.
The second set mirrored much of the first set with Florida winning 25-18. The Lady Vols were persistent in keeping pace with 15 kills in the set, but the Gators were more defensively sound with six blocks to shut down the Tennessee offense.
Florida finished out the match in the third set winning 25-19. The Vols did not give up, as they kept the score close with a 3-0 run to cut the Gator’s lead to two points, 14-16 in the set. Eventually, Florida was just too dominant going on a 5-0 run towards the end to finish the match.
Despite the loss, the Volunteers had a strong showing against the number one team in the nation, as they had 123 attacks and 34 kills. Junior Erica Treiber led the team with 10 kills behind 27 attacks. The Lady Vols were without sophomore Tessa Grubbs on the night.
Tennessee will resume SEC play on the road this Sunday in Columbia against South Carolina (8-6, 1-1 SEC). The match will air at 1 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.
Edited by Ben McKee
