Volleyball dominates Arkansas

If Friday was any sign of things to come for the remainder of Florida’s SEC volleyball season, Coach Mary Wise has a reason to increase her expectations.

The No. 10 Gators opened the second half of their conference schedule in convincing fashion, sweeping Arkansas in front of 2,850 home fans, 25-12, 25-18, 25-16.

“The game plan tonight was to win the serving, passing and blocking battles,” Wise said. “I felt that if we could do those three areas, this would be a match we would win. That’s exactly what happened.”

UF (15-3, 9-2 SEC) dominated all three facets of the game plan, logging eight service aces, including four from Brynja Rodgers. The Gators won the assist battle 34-28 and out-blocked the Razorbacks 10-4.

“The team has embraced (blocking),” said Wise, whose team has outblocked its last three opponents by a combined 31.5-10. “They’re doing things technically correct to block balls, but they also have the right attitude.”

Arkansas (10-12, 4-7 SEC) took its only lead of the opening set in the early stages, but never posed a threat to the hot start of Florida. The Gators used a 16-3 run to erase any momentum the Razorbacks took from the locker room. The surge was highlighted by eight consecutive points served by Kristy Jaeckel, who logged four of her ten kills in the frame.

“The run was a real team effort,” Jaeckel said. “We didn’t really do anything special. We just did what we needed to do.”

Senior Elyse Cusack logged five of her 11 digs in the opening set to become the first player in program history to eclipse the 1,900 career dig mark.

“It’s always nice to be in the record books, but it’s not something that I came (to Florida) looking for,” said Cusack, a P.K. Yonge grad. “I just work hard and I guess it’s paying off.”

Arkansas showed signs of life in the second frame, trading points with the Gators until a 9-3 UF run, highlighted by three straight Rodgers aces, turned a 6-5 deficit into a 14-8 lead. Jaeckel and Cusack followed Rodgers’ ace trifecta with aces of their own to help Florida record five points on serves in an eight-point stretch.

The Razorbacks got a small dose of false confidence to start the third set as Gator errors handed over six of Arkansas’ nine points to open the frame. UF corrected the problem and quickly turned the nine-all tie into a set-high nine-point lead following Rodgers’ ace on match point.

Florida held Arkansas to attacking percentages of .036, .219 and .065, while the Gators logged percentages of .458, .333 and .393. Jasmine Norton led the Razorbacks with 11 kills, while Lindsay Scanlan contributed 19 assists. Jaeckel’s 10 kills and 12 digs were UF-team highs. Rodgers led the club with 20 assists to help the team to its third straight loss since a heartbreaking defeat at LSU Oct. 11.

“We’re definitely getting back in the groove of things,” Rodgers said. “After a loss, you go back to the gym and back intro practice ready to work really hard. Sometimes it takes a little kick in the butt, like a loss.”