Florida defeats IPFW in Campus USA Credit Union Classic
September 16th, 2005
Senior outside hitter Jane Collymore led #7 Florida with 14 kills in finishing with a double-double as the Gators opened the Campus USA Credit Union Classic with a 3-0 win against IPFW (30-14, 30-17, 30-19) before a crowd of 2,033 fans Friday evening at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
The win for Florida (8-1) marked the 228th in a row against unranked opponents and stands as the Gators’ 15th straight win in regular season home tournaments. Freshman middle blocker Kelsey Bowers also fared well on the evening in her first career start as she became the first UF freshman MB since Benavia Jenkins in 2000 to reach double figures in kills as she posted 11 on 14 attempts (.786 hitting) in helping the Gators hand the Mastodons (8-1) their first loss of the season.
“It was a match where there were a lot of good numbers,” Florida coach Mary Wise said. “We did some really good things tonight led by the performance of Kelsey Bowers. She put up numbers that we haven’t seen since Benavia and that’s exciting for our team.”
The Gators out-hit the Mastodons .310-.000 and finished with more kills (44-31), aces (5-2), digs (59-37) and blocks (13.0-7.0) with UF’s block total tying a season-high.
Senior libero Rachel Engel ended the contest with 16 digs * her 22nd straight match in double figures. She’s now tied for ninth place in Florida history with 954 career digs. Sophomore middle blocker Kisya Killingsworth also had a stellar match for UF with six kills on 10 swings with two solo blocks and five block assists for a career-best seven total blocks.
The Gators made short work of the Mastodons in the opening game as Florida raced out to leads of 5-1 and 12-2 before cruising to a 30-14 win. The serve of sophomore outside hitter Marcie Hampton, Killingsworth and sophomore setter Angie McGinnis fueled Florida’s initial success, while Collymore and Killingsworth had two kills apiece in the stretch. The Mastodons never recovered to make the game close before the things ended on an IPFW service error. Florida hit a sparkling .409 in the game with Collymore and Bowers each collecting four kills with Bowers also adding three block assists as the Gators finished with 4.0 in the game.
IPFW made things a little more interesting in game two as the Mastodons took an early lead before a 10-0 Gator run propelled Florida to a 30-17 win. With IPFW ahead 6-5, the Gators forced a side out on block assists from Bowers and Hampton. Collymore then served nine straight points for Florida with Hampton providing three kills in the stretch as the Gators went from down one to ahead nine at 15-6. The Mastodons never threatened again and Florida closed out the game on a kill from junior Stefanie Douglas. The Gators hit .325 in the game compared to just .048 for IPFW. Bowers was again on fire as she had six kills on eight swings (.750 hitting), while the Gators picked up 4.0 blocks to just 1.0 for IPFW.
The final game was close until the midway point when the Gators took control before eventually sealing the contest with a 30-19 win. The Gators jumped out to a 10-5 lead after a kill from Killingsworth, but the Mastodons battled back within three at 15-12 and at 16-13. But Florida scored five of the next six points and seven of the next nine to move on top by eight at 23-15 and the Mastodons never got closer than seven before Hampton ended the match with a kill. Collymore paced the Gators with six kills in the last game with Engel adding eight digs and Killingsworth posting four blocks.
The Gators will return to action Saturday for the final day of the tournament. Eastern Michigan and IPFW will play at 3 p.m. with the Florida vs. UC Irvine match to follow at 5:30 p.m. The contest will be webcast on www.GatorZone.com.
Fans wishing to attend Florida’s match who possess a ticket to the UF-Tennessee football game will be admitted free. Also, a parking shuttle from Macy’s at the Oaks Mall will begin service at 4:30 p.m. and will transport fans to the O’Connell Center.
