NORMAN ā Oklahoma volleyball opened SEC play Sunday afternoon with a 3-0 loss to No. 8 Florida (21-25, 22-25, 19-25) at McCasland Field House.Ā
Oklahoma (7-3, 0-1 SEC) battled through a pair of tightly contested opening sets, with the first featuring 14 ties and seven lead changes and the second adding nine ties and four lead changes. Florida (10-1, 1-0 SEC) pulled away late in both before taking control of the third to complete the sweep. The Gators hit .406 for the match with 48 kills, while Oklahoma finished with 35 kills on a .174 clip.
Junior
Alaleh Tolliver led the Oklahoma attack with nine kills on a .308 hitting percentage and added an ace. Sophomore
Alyssa Flack put down seven kills without an attack error on 17 swings to hit .412, while sophomore
Tekoa Barnes added six kills and a team-high 12 digs. Junior
Carley Butler finished with five kills without an error and two blocks.
Sophomore
Avaya Maga dished out 30 assists, while juniors
McKenna Brand and
Kinsley Singleton each recorded seven digs. Oklahoma finished with four service aces, getting one apiece from Brand,
Elise Hani,
Mari King and Tolliver.
SET ONE
The opening set stayed tight with 14 ties before Florida broke a 17-all deadlock with three straight points. Oklahoma pulled within two at 20-18, but the Gators maintained the advantage to take the set 25-21.
SET TWO
Oklahoma built an early 11-7 lead before Florida worked back to tie the set at 13. The teams traded points until the Gators broke a 19-all tie with three straight and held off OU for the 25-22 win.
SET THREE
The teams traded points early before Florida used a 7-2 run to build a 14-9 lead. The Gators extended the advantage from there and closed out the match with a 25-19 win.
LOOKING AHEAD
Oklahoma continues SEC play on the road Friday at South Carolina. First serve is set for 6 p.m. CT.Ā