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The Florida Gators defeated the Tulsa Golden Hurricane in the first round of the NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament, sweeping them in three sets, 25-9, 25-21, 25-21. Ziva Recek led the Gators with 13 kills, and SEC Player of the Year Chloe Mann had 10 kills and six blocks.
Tulsa senior Tyler Henderson had a match-high 17 kills, but she didn't have enough help to defeat a deeper Florida team. The Gators, who are the 14 seed in the NCAA Tournament, were surprised to see Henderson get off to such a slow start in the first set, in which she was held scoreless, but head coach Mary Wise said they were impressed at how much she rebounded in the final two sets:
“We were so impressed with her ability to respond after the first set. Sometimes you see players with in their inability to do what they do best, it can snowball. Boy, did she put a halt on that. Pretty impressive to finish with 17 kills in three sets.”
Florida also advanced past the College of Charleston this past weekend to the regional stage, where it will face the three seed, Texas, with an opportunity to advance to the tournament quarterfinals. The match against Texas will be on Friday, Dec. 7.