Florida beats Bears in five sets behind AniyaMadkin's career-high 15 kills
Story by Regan Roberts
The No. 11 Florida Gators volleyball team got back in the win column on Sunday by beating No. 20 Baylor in the Stephen O’Connell Center. UF defeated the Bears in five sets — winning the first, third and fifth sets — behind Aniya Madkin’s career-high 15 kills.
Florida also got a standout performance from redshirt junior setter Alexis Stucky, who recorded her third double-double of the season with 45 assists and 10 digs. Stucky was honored pregame for reaching 2,000 career assists.
“It feels great. I’m excited for more to come,” Madkin said of her career-high performance. “Stucky gave me some great balls and as a team we were getting digs and serves and serve-pass that just really made it easy for us.”
The Gators started off strong in the first set, taking an early 20-12 lead. The Bears fought back to 21-18, causing Florida to call a timeout. UF regrouped and closed out set one with a 25-20 win.
The Gators started off 0-1 in the second set and were not able to take the lead from there. They trailed the entire set, unable to catch up to the strong attack from the Bears, falling 25-22.
Set three was a back-and-forth match, with the score being tied eight times from 3-3 to 11-11. Florida pulled ahead 14-11 and held on to that lead until the Bears tied it up at 22-22. It was back and forth from there, but a service error from Baylor and a service ace from Kira Hutson gave the Gators a 27-25 victory in set three.
Florida took a 10-4 lead in the fourth, but Baylor fought its way back to a 17-17 tie before outlasting the Gators, 25-22, to force a fifth set. The Bears scored the first two points, but UF took control and responded with seven unanswered points for a 12-6 lead. Florida fended off a late rally and pulled out the set five win, 15-9.
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The Gators improved to 5-2 overall on the season and bounced back from their loss at No. 25 North Carolina on Tuesday. Jordyn Byrd led the team with 21 kills on the day, and fellow outside hitter Madkin set a new career high with 15 kills. Middle blocker Jaela Auguste logged 13 kills.
“She has the ability to score and that’s not easy on big, physical teams,” Florida coach Ryan Theis said of Madkin. “The ability to get points is really hard. It’s what makes these guys all so special. And Aniya has that ability.”
Former Gator turned Bear, Gabrielle Essix, made her first return to the O’Dome. She had 13 kills on the afternoon. The Gators will travel to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to play Marquette on Friday at 7 p.m.
Theis will be making his return to Marquette for the first time since taking the coaching position at Florida. He coached at Marquette for 11 years, leading them to a 258-87 record.
