Article posted by Florida Gazette. Photo by Gatorzone.com
AMES, Iowa -- No. 8 Seed Florida downed No. 9 Seed Illinois in a five-set thriller (25-22, 21-25, 22-25, 25-17, 16-14) at Hilton Coliseum in Ames Friday evening to advance to the program’s 14th NCAA Volleyball Regional Final. The Gators (28-3) meet No. 1 Seed Stanford (32-1) Saturday evening at 9 p.m. ET on ESPNU for a trip to the Final Four in Oklahoma City Dec. 18-20.
The Orange and Blue used double-doubles from freshman middle Rhamat Alhassan (15K, 10B), junior setter Mackenzie Dagostino (51A, 10D) and sophomore right side Alex Holston (18K, 10D) to propel a comeback after Illinois went up 2-1 in the match. Florida took set four, 25-17, to force a fifth and gutted out a 16-14 decision in the final frame to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2011.
Florida’s back row held it down to stifle the Illini attack, as seniors Holly Pole (19) and Maddy Monserez (16) joined Dagostino and Holston in double-digit digs. Illinois became the 22nd UF opponent the Gators have limited to a .197 or lower hitting efficiency this season. Florida improved to 6-2 against ranked opponents this season, including six straight.
Sophomore Shaïnah Joseph provided a spark for the Orange and Blue off the bench with seven errorless kills on 13 attempts for a career-high .538 hitting efficiency. Joseph added five blocks for 9.5 points towards the Gators’ tally. Alhassan tied a career high with 10 blocks at the net and Holston led the Orange and Blue in slams for the 20th time this season. Holston has had double-digit kill performances in 11 of UF’s last 12 tilts. Dagostino made it two straight 51-assist matches and has had 50+ assists in three of UF’s last four matches.
The Gators added their 23rd straight victory with the five-set win over the Illini, the longest streak in the country. UF will make its 14th Regional Final appearance Saturday evening and will aim for its eighth Final Four berth in program history. UF last advanced to the National Semifinals and played for the National Championship in 2003.
“The eight-nine match-up lived up to its billing. It was an elite level performance by both teams, gutsy, gritty play from the very beginning of the match. If we played 10 times, it would go five and five. I thought Illinois was terrific and we knew that between Birks and McMahon, those are some high heavy arms. We thought yesterday that the match would come down to two-offensive teams and some big time blockers. The difference in the match was that we out-passed Illinois, statistically. I think that the result that comes down to two points in the fifth set.”
