TAMPA, Fla. – The No. 12 Florida volleyball team served their way to their third-straight win, opening September play with a four-set win (25-18, 17-25, 25-20, 26-24) over USF in Tampa inside the Yuengling Center.

The Gators finished with a season-high nine aces, missing only five serves on 92 attempts. Ella Vogel led the way with a career-best five, while Lily Hayes, Jaela Auguste, Emily Canaan all dropped one. Milica Vidacic had one as well, coming in off the bench to serve the game-winning ace.

Offensively, the Bulls finished with 61 kills for a .281 hitting clip while Florida had 49 kills and hit .249 on the night. Nine players contributed to the Gators attacking, with birthday girl Aniya Madkin registering a team-high 10 kills. Jordyn Byrd, Alec Rothe and Auguste all finished with eight, while Kira Hutson (7), Alexis Stucky (3) and Vidacic (3) combined for 13.

Stucky dished out 31 assists in the four-setter, with Taylor Parks coming in during the fourth to contribute seven to the stat sheet. Canaan pitched in three as well to tie her career-high.

At the net, Florida out-blocked the Bulls 12-7, with Rothe leading the way with five. Auguste and Hutson, who had a career high, followed with four each, while Madkin had three and Byrd recorded one.

Two Gators finished with double-digit digs, as Vogel led the backcourt with a career-best 14 digs. Cannan had 10 and Hayes followed close with nine.

Maria Clara Andrade contributed 23 kills for USF.

Records:

No. 12 Florida (3-1, 0-0 SEC)

USF (0-3, 0-0 AAC)

 

Series Record 31-4 (1-0 under Theis)

3-set: 18-1; 4-set: 11-1; 5-set: 2-2

Home: 16-1; Away: 12-1; Neutral: 3-2

 

How It Happened

Set 1

• Back-to-back aces from Vogel put Florida up by four, as a kill from Hutson gave the Gators a 10-5 lead at the start of set one. Following a Bulls timeout, the home team settled in with a 5-2 scoring run and inched within three throughout the middle of the frame, but points from Auguste and Rothe allowed Florida to gain a 17-12 advantage. USF kept the fight and responded with two-straight points, but the Gators .464 hitting clip in the opening frame pushed UF to a 25-18 victory.
• Set 1 Stats |.464 Hitting %|13 Kills | 13 Assists |13 Digs | 4.0 Blocks | 3 Aces
• USF | .237 Hitting %| 16 Kills | 16 Assists |15 Digs | 0.0 Blocks | 0 Aces

Set 2

• The Bulls settled in and started with an early 6-3 lead, but a dump from Stucky followed by a tip from Auguste cut the lead to one at the start of set two. Back-to-back Gator errors kickstarted a USF 4-0 scoring run for a 10-5 lead, as Coach Theis called a timeout. A kill from Vidacic out of the huddle ended the Bulls scoring run, but the home team responded with another 4-0 run for a 16-7 advantage. Florida kept the fight and scored three-straight to rally back within eight before falling 18-25 in the second frame.
• Set 2 Team Stats | 0.94 Hitting %| 11 Kills | 9 Assists | 9 Digs |1.0 Blocks | 1 Ace
• USF | .444 Hitting %| 14 Kills | 13 Assists | 9 Digs |4.0 Blocks | 1 Ace

Set 3

• The Gators responded in the opening points and jumped out with an early 4-0 lead to force a USF timeout. Out of the huddle, the Bulls went on a 9-3 scoring run to take a 9-7 lead. Florida continued to trail by two throughout the middle of the frame, but a beat down by Auguste sent the sophomore to the service line where she dropped an ace to give the Gators a 12-11 advantage. The two teams exchanged points, but a 4-0 scoring run with Vogel behind the service line pushed Florida ahead 17-14. A block from Madkin extended the lead to 19-15, but the Bulls responded with three-straight to inch back within one, but tough serving from Parks helped Florida clinch a 25-20 victory.  
• Set 3 Team Stats |.229 Hitting %| 12 Kills | 12 Assists |17 Digs |5.0 Blocks | 1 Aces
• USF | .122 Hitting %| 13 Kills |12 Assists | 18 Digs | 1.0 Blocks | 1 Aces

Set 4

• Florida went on a three-point scoring run and forced USF to call an early timeout, where the Bulls responded with a 8-2 scoring run to take a 10-6 lead. After falling to an 8-14 deficit, the Gators used their second timeout to regroup heading into the second half of set four. Back-to-back kills from Hutson and Madkin closed the gap to five, but the Bulls kept the momentum and stretched their lead to 17-10. Service errors from the home team allowed UF to inch back within five (15-20) and three-straight aces from Vogel chipped the deficit to three, as the Bulls used their second timeout still with a 21-18 lead. Out of the huddle, USF tallied back-to-back kills for set-point, but a kill by Madkin and a Bulls setting error tied it up at 24. Vidacic subbed in for the first time all set to serve the game-winning ace that clinched the 26-24 fourth-set win and the 3-1 match victory.
• Set 4 Team Stats | .258 Hitting %| 13 Kills | 10 Assists | 13 Digs | 2.0 Blocks | 4 Aces
• USF | .417 Hitting %| 18 Kills | 16 Assists |12 Digs | 2.0 Blocks |0 Aces

Hear from Head Coach Ryan Theis:
On coming back to win after being down late in sets three and four…
“I always say there are a couple of things you want to get out of the nonconference season. One, you’ve got to get a five-game screamer and you want to have an epic comeback when you fight through it. Another is a road win, so we have already wed off two of the things to do and hopefully we can keep things going.”

On Aniya Madkin coming in and having her best match as a Gator…

“We are trying to score points in every position. We have five attackers and we know, fans know, that Kira can only take so many reps, but she is so valuable to us in so many ways. We need points out of the middle and we need points out of two of the three pins and Aniya has the ability to score without question. It just means moving Kira over to the right, which she’s more than going to do to be a team player. We have practiced that and we’ve been prepared for it, so we went to it and was effective today.”

Notables

• The Gators are now 1-1 in four-set matches this season
• Florida moves to 1-0 on the road
• UF sits 1-0 when playing on a Monday
• The Gators improve to 1-0 in September matches
•  Seven players either set or tied career highs:
  
• Aniya Madkin was the only Gator to finish with double-digit kills
• Two players finished with double-digit digs
  

Up Next
Florida continues its road stint with back-to-back matchups against Ohio State and RV North Carolina. The Gators travel to Columbus, OH, on Sunday, Sept. 7 for a Big Ten meeting with the Buckeyes inside the Covelli Center. Florida then heads back south to Chapel Hill, NC, for the SEC-ACC Showdown at the Net Challenge with the Tar Heels on Sept. 9 at Carmichael Arena.
 
No. 12 Florida at Ohio State
Date & Time: Sunday, Sept. 7 at 12 p.m. ET
Venue: Covelli Center in Columbus, Ohio
Broadcast: BTN https://bigten.org/btn/btn-tv-schedule/
LiveStats: https://ohiostatebuckeyes.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
 
Ohio State Series Record 4-1 (0-0 under Theis)
3-set: 0-0; 4-set: 3-0; 5-set: 1-1
Home: 3-0; Away: 0-0; Neutral: 1-1
Last matchup: 2024 in Gainesville, Fla. – Florida won 3-1 (20-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-21)
 
No. 12 Florida at RV North Carolina
Date & Time: Tuesday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. ET
Venue: Carmichael Arena in Chapel Hill, NC
Broadcast: ACCN https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/2026a998-6398-4c2d-93b3-d8566f9c13fa
Promotion: SEC-ACC Challenge https://floridagators.com/news/2025/5/22/gators-to-face-north-carolina-in-espns-showdown-at-the-net.aspx
LiveStats: https://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statmonitr.php?gid=unc
 
North Carolina Series Record 12-1 (0-0 under Theis)
3-set: 6-1; 4-set: 4-0; 5-set: 2-0
Home: 4-0; Away: 4-1; Neutral: 4-0
Last Matchup: 2017 in San Juan, PR (SEC-ACC Challenge) – Florida won 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-23)
 
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