Volleyball has suffered its 15th season loss, leaving the team at a disappointing 0-15 SEC conference record.
The team began the match on a high, with freshman outside hitter Kaleigh Palmer and middle blockers Alyiah Wells and Chaise Campbell spearheading the attack.
The team maintained a steady lead of 7 points over Florida for most of the set. However, the Gators managed to stage a comeback, gradually closing the gap until the set was tied at 17 points, with the lead shifting from one team to the other with each point.
The team held a .134 hitting average for this match. Campbell made up much of this game’s percentage with a .438, nearly doubling her scoring percentage from Friday night’s game against the Razorbacks. Wells and Palmer held scoring percentages of .250 and .111, respectively.
“We respect every opponent’s defense, but I think our biggest goal was to find open space in the court,” Campbell said. “We weren’t afraid to challenge a block defensively. We weren’t afraid to hit anybody. We just wanted to go out there, bang a ball and find the open space in the court.”
Campbell dominated the game with the highest hitting percentage and led in assisted blocks with four. Following closely behind were setter Callie Kieffer, middle blocker Jordyn Towns, Wells, and Palmer, each contributing with two assisted blocks.
Palmer’s offensive efforts stood out as among her best of the season. She secured six kills on 18 attacks and achieved a season-best three blocks, including the only solo block of the game.
“Oh, she’s awesome,” head coach Rashida Reed said of Palmer. “She’s a freshman, and she’s sitting there being just as physical as the seniors, and she’s doing some really nice things and coming into that outside hitter position.”
The game did not go as well in the second and third sets. Although the team kept up with the Gators in scoring, it couldn’t gain a secure lead as it had in the set prior.
The Gators took a 6-1 lead over the Crimson Tide, coming from three kills by Florida’s hitters Kennedy Martin and AC Fitzpatrick and two attack errors from Palmer and Wells.
Alabama brought it back to tie the game later down the set with a kill from Towns, who had three kills this game. But it wasn’t enough for the Crimson Tide, which took its second loss of the night 20-25.
The third set unfolded similarly to the second, as Florida swiftly secured a 0-5 lead over Alabama. However, Alabama gradually progressed and managed to level the game at 16 points, leading to a back-and-forth battle.
The game seemed on the verge of concluding when the referee awarded a point to Florida, alleging that Campbell had touched the net.
This decision granted Florida the 25th point needed to sweep Alabama. Reed opted to challenge the call.
Upon review, the replay revealed that it was not Campbell but Florida’s setter Kennedy Muff who had touched the net. This successful challenge gave Alabama another chance.
Despite this fortunate turn, Alabama couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity, as Florida secured a kill on the next play, concluding the game at 22-25.
Although the team added another loss to the record, Palmer believes this game demonstrated the progress the Crimson Tide has made.
“I think this was one of our best games,” Palmer said. “I thought we played really well as a team, and we’ve been implementing a lot of the stuff we’ve been doing in practice into our play, which is really helping us just be right there with it.”
The team is set to hit the road Sunday, heading to Georgia to face off against the Bulldogs at 1 p.m. CST.
