Mississippi State
10-11, 5-7SEC
Florida
17-3, 10-1SEC
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi State | 23 | 18 | 18 | 0 |
| Florida | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Gators Power Past State In Gainesville
October 23, 2011 | Volleyball
Rance delivered 13 of MSU's 39 kills and finished with 30 for the weekend.
Florida (17-3/10-1 SEC) claimed the match 25-23, 25-19, 25-18, getting 11 kills on a .647 hitting performance by Tangerine Wiggs. Florida held a 43-39 edge in kills a 47-43 advantage in digs and a 6-4 advantage in total team blocking.
Mississippi State stumbled out of the starting blocks, falling behind the 13th-ranked Gators 11-2 to open the match. Caitlin Rance delivered the first of her five kills in the set to stop the UF spree, and State would battle back into contention. Gator attack errors knotted the score at 21-21 and 22-22 before UF closed out the set with a 3-0 run.
MSU made a strong bid at notching a set two win, going on a 7-0 run and jumping out to a 13-5 advantage. Rance and Hannah Wilkinson chipped in a pair of kills each during the Bulldog run. But Florida, helped along by a trio of attack errors, answered with a 8-0 run to pull even at 13-13. Cassandra Anderson then took over with four kills and a block down the stretch to power the Gators to a 25-19 win and a 2-0 match lead at the break.
The Bulldogs stayed close through the first half of the final stanza, taking a 6-5 lead on a service ace by Lainey Wyman and pulling even at 9-9 on a kill by Rance. The Gators scored five of the next six points to claim a 14-10 edge and never trailed again en route to a match-clinching 25-18 win in the third set.
Chanelle Baker paced MSU at the net with three blocks while Faith Steinwedell led the Bulldog defense with 10 digs.
The Bulldogs return to SEC Western Division competition and close out their October schedule this weekend in Starkville. State hosts Arkansas Friday at 7 p.m. before taking on defending SEC West champion LSU in a regionally-televised (Comcast Sports Southeast) 1 p.m. match at the Newell-Grissom Building.
