Florida sweeps Florida State behind two comeback sets

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - After trailing in both the second and third sets, the No. 16 ranked Florida Gator volleyball team swept in-state rival Florida State on at home on Tuesday night.

The Gators defeated the Seminoles by the scores of 25-19, 29-27 and 25-22 and moved to 7-2 on the season.

After missing the last three games due to a concussion, outside hitter Merritt Beason returned to the floor and shined offensively. Beason, who led the Gators with 13 kills and added three blocks, wasn’t cleared to play until right before the match.

“So, I had to hold like a centimeter rule out in front of my nose, and a popsicle stick moved closer to my face, and I had to say when I saw two of them,” Beason explained after the game.

Throughout the match, Florida State consistently led Florida and held an early 8-3 in the first set. However, the Gators stormed back with a 18-9 run to put the score at 21-17. From there, the Gators took the set by six to go up 1-0.

Four of Beason’s 13 kills came in the first set, while Gabbi Essix added four blocks.

The second set held a slightly different story as both teams battled tightly. Tied at 20, Florida went on their own run to eventually go up 24-21, but a Mary Wise challenge against a no touch call on Florida State worked out and put the score at 23-22.

Florida would go onto win the set 29-27, despite the Seminoles having three set points, after Beason’s kill-attempt, which would have been her fifth of the frame, was blocked out of bounds, putting the Gators up 2-0.

Overall, there were 13 tied scores and seven lead-changes in the second set.

“We learn every single match. We learn something new about ourselves,” Beason said. “How young we are, the fact that we can take every single match whether it’s a win or a loss and learn from it in different ways.”

Senior outside hitter Marina Markova led Florida with five kills in the second set and finished with 12 in the match.

Despite clutch performances in the first two sets, the Gators momentum slipped in the third set as Florida State went up 7-2 early on. An ace by outside hitter Audrey Koening, who had nine in the match, put the Seminoles up 17-11.

Florida would go on a 9-3 run, kickstarted by a block by Bre Kelley and a kill by Markova, tied the score at 20 before the Seminoles took a 22-20 lead.

With another run, Florida took the set and the match with a kill by Sofia Victoria, her eighth of the match.

With the sweep, Florida has now swept their last four opponents, dating back to Sept. 9 against Georgia Southern. The Gators look to add to their win streak on Friday on the road at No. 4 Wisconsin at 8:30 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.