It was supposed to be over in three sets. Marquette was not supposed to even have the slightest bit of a chance against the mighty #7 Gators in Gainesville! I guess that's why they play the game because the Marquette Golden Eagles stunned the Florida Gator volleyball team in five sets (26-24, 25-21, 15-13).
I'll be honest, I left the game super early to catch 22 Jump Street at Gator Nights with some friends in the Reitz Union. After finding out about this upset, I honestly couldn't believe it. Even as I write this I am still shocked that the Gators lost to an unranked Big East opponent in the O-Dome.
From the first set, I could tell this was not the Gators' night as they made careless mistakes and just seemed out of sync defensively. Mackenzie Dagostino (17) and Holly Pole (14) were the only two Gators to reach double digits in digs. In addition to her 43 assists and six service aces, Dagostino also assisted on five blocks. Sophomore Shainah Joseph also assisted on five blocks in her first career start in the O-Dome. Freshman middle blocker Rhamat Alhassan led the way defensively for the Gators tonight with eight blocks assisted as well as two solo blocks!
On offense, Alex Holston led the team with 13 kills while Rhamat Alhassan and Carli Snyder tied with 11 kills each. Shainah Joseph was the next closest with eight kills. Holston had the most attack attempts with 41.
I really don't have much left to say about this game. After coming off of two Top 25 victories against #19 San Diego and #10 USC in California last week, I was expecting the #7 Gators to kick off their Campus USA Credit Union Invite with a dominant win. The Gators beat Marquette on their own turf last year and I still can't believe they let the Golden Eagles return the favor. All that's left now for Florida (5-3) is to regroup and prepare for the UCF Knights (7-3) on Sunday at 3 p.m. in the O-Dome.
As for Marquette (7-3), they will actually get the first crack at UCF as the two teams meet at 3 p.m. in the O-Dome on Saturday. Marquette will definitely be riding the momentum from its huge upset win over Florida as they look to surge past the Knights and win the tournament.
*All stats accredited to Gatorzone.com
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