The 11th-ranked Florida volleyball team is off to a strong start to the 2023 campaign after winning a pair of matches to open the fall schedule.
On Friday night, the Gators mounted a late comeback to outlast the No. 8 Penn State Nittany Lions in four sets inside the O’Connell Center for their opening victory. The visitors took the first set, 25-18, but the home team earned a hard-fought 25-23 second set to even the match. Florida took that momentum into set three, winning 25-17, then the Gators staved off three set points in the fourth and won the match with a 5-0 run.
The win gave the Orange and Blue its 31st season-opening triumph, including the last seven straight.
Then on Saturday, Mary Wise’s squad finished off the Road 2 Tampa Bay Invitational with a five-set victory over the South Florida Bulls inside the Yuengling Center. That win makes it the 28th time the Gators started the season with a 2-0 record in program history.
USF claimed the first set, 25-22, before UF answered with a 25-18 second win. The third belonged to the Bulls, winning 25-22, but Florida forced the deciding fifth set after posting a 25-16 victory in the fourth. The Gators went on to win the match with a 15-8 fifth set.
Next up for Florida are the third-ranked Stanford Cardinals, who host the Gators on Tuesday, Aug. 29, in Stanford, California. The Cards have also started off the 2023 with a perfect 2-0 record as well.
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