No. 22 Florida rallies, storms by Arkansas
NO. 22 FLORIDA 3, ARKANSAS 2
FAYETTEVILLE — The University of Arkansas volleyball team had another big catch wiggle off the line Saturday night at Barnhill Arena.
No. 22 Florida rallied from a 2-1 deficit and 13-12 in the fifth set to claim a 3-2 (16-25, 25-17, 1825, 25-22, 26-14) victory over the Razorbacks.
That’s three five-set losses, including two 16-14, now to nationally ranked teams for Arkansas (17-8, 8-6 SEC). Previously, the Razorbacks had match point on the road against defending national champion Kentucky, but the Wildcats rallied to win.
Arkansas Coach Jason Watson praised his team for the way they bounced back to play well, after a sub-par effort in a three-set loss to the Gators on Friday evening.
“We’re battling,” Watson said. “They’re pretty resilient to not be so great last night. We weren’t really on task. We weren’t really present and then to turn around and just put yourself in a position like that is good.
“I don’t know when our day’s coming, you know? What I do know is if we don’t do what we do tonight, it’s never coming. It’s small, little things tonight. It’s small, little things in the Kentucky series. We were up 2-1. Just little details that we have to do all the time.”
All six of Arkansas’ SEC losses have come to teams ranked in the American Volleyball Coaches Association top 25. In addition, Georgia Tech is now currently ranked but it wasn’t when the Razorbacks lost to them earlier in the season.
Arkansas grabbed its only lead of the fifth set at 13-12 when a Florida swing went long. But the Gators scored four of the last five points to earn the win.
Taylor Head buried a crosscourt kill to wipe out one match point and tie it at 14,-14 but Florida countered for the win.
Redshirt senior T’ara Ceasar’s match-high 23rd kill of the night sealed the deal for the Gators (176, 11-3). The 6-1 outside hitter also contributed a match-high 21 digs.
The Razorbacks looked to have a chance to end the match in four sets as they erased a six-point deficit and led 22-21 in the fourth. But again the Gators surged behind a pair of kills by Ceasar to score the final four points for the 25-22 win to force a fifth.
Outside hitter Jill Gillen led four Razorbacks in double figures with 21 kills. Taylor Head added 15, Maggie Cartwright 11 and Ellease Crumpton 10. Freshman libero Courtney Jackson finished with a team-high 21 digs, while freshman Hannah Hogue added 14 digs. Setter Gracie Ryan registered a double-double with 47 assists and 14 digs.
Arkansas continues league play at Texas A&M on Wednesday before hosting Mississippi State for two matches next weekend. The Razorbacks close the regular season at South Carolina on Nov. 26.