Weekend Recap: Gators Soccer And Volleyball Both Spilt The Weekend
The Weekend Recap includes Fridays, because when I was inschool, Friday was definitely a part of the weekend (Thursdays might have beensometimes too, and let’s just lump Wednesdays in there as well).
You all know the big news and that came in the form of Florida’s 39-0 win over UAB, but so much more happened thanfootball. No really, it’s true. It’s hard for most of you to believe, but thereare plenty of other Gators participating in their respective sports this timeof year and they’re pretty darn decent all around. It’s hard to follow all ofthem closely, but not as hard as you think. Here’s your recap of the weekend inFlorida sports…
Football
You already know what happened, but it did occur, is aFlorida sport, and did take place this past weekend. Recap here, here, andhere.
Soccer
The no. 9 soccer team had a tough go of it Friday night infront of their third-largest crowd ever. Facing instate rival no. 5 FSU, the Gators fell behind early, butwere able to come back and tie the score at one apiece on an Erika Tymrak goal right before thehalf. The Seminoles would score early in the second half as well to retake thelead. It wouldn’t take Florida long to tie it again on a goal from Holly King in the 68th minute.Unfortunately, only about four minutes later, the Noles would regain the leadone final time for good. The loss dropped the Gators to 4-2 on the season, butit wouldn’t be long before they got their fifth win.
Win number five came on Sunday in a 5-0 victory over Florida Gulf Coast in the first meetingbetween the two programs. Florida started strong with three goals in the first24 minutes. Those three were scored by TessaAndujar (assisted by Jillian Graff),Tymrak (assisted by Tahnai Annis)and Lauren Silber (assisted by Annie Speese). The scoring onslaught wasn’tover as the Gators added another in the first half when Speese and Taylor Travis assisted a goal scored byCaroline Triglia. For good measure,Speese got her third assist of the game in the second half when she touched theball to Lindsay Thompson who wouldfinish the Gator scoring.
The 5-2 Gators head out on the road later this week withvisits to Missouri on Friday and Kansas on Sunday.
Volleyball
Like the soccer team, the volleyball team split the weekend,but did it in the reverse order. The no. 7 Florida squad beat no. 10 Texas 3-2 (25-22, 20-25, 25-13, 21-25,15-12) in their opening match of the Nike Big Four Classic. The Gators moved to7-1 on the season after the win. KristyJaeckel led Florida with 15 kills and 17 digs in her 100th match as a Gatorand Kelly Murphy continued herstellar season with 12 kills and 30 assists.
Florida then faced no. 3 Stanford in the final, but fell to the Cardinal 2-3 (17-25, 20-25,25-20, 25-21, 13-15). Jaeckel and Murphy were the stars again for the Gatorsand both were selected to the All-Tournament Team. Jaeckel finished with 20kills and 16 digs, while Murphy had a triple-double finishing with 14 kills, 29assists and 10 digs. Great performances by both despite the loss to a very goodStanford program.
Next up, the Gators head to Starkville to face Mississippi State.
Cross Country
The cross country teams competed in the South Florida Invitationalon Friday and were led by the no. 26 men who finished first for the second timethis season. All five Gator runnersfinished in the top 11, which gave Florida 39 points and the win. The men wereled by Phil Duncan who finishedfourth individually.
The women’s team ended up fourth with 107 points finishing behindUSF, FAU, and Tampa. Theywere led by Mandy Perkins whofinished third overall and was one of three Gator women to finish in the top 11.
The Florida cross country teams may have a bright futureahead of them. Of the 10 Gators that ran in the South Florida Invitational,eight were freshmen.
Both the men and the women are now off until September 24when they compete in the Mountain Dew Invitational in Gainesville.
Golf
The women’s golf team began the Cougar Classic on Sunday andjumped out to second place after the first round. While no individual finishedin the top 12, four were tied at 13th which was good enough to put the Gators4-under and only four shot behind leader LSU.
The tournament continues through Tuesday.
Click here to check out this week’s Florida sports schedule.