Florida Gulf Coast University traveled to Gainesville to face off against the No.4 seeded team, the University of Florida. As a part of the Upper Left Region first-round match, both teams competed in Exactech Arena this Thursday. Directly after conquering a match against Lipscomb in the concluding match of the Atlantic Conference Championship, FGCU qualified for the NCAA Tournament.
Along the same lines. FGCU once more embarked on the journey to dominate Florida after sweeping all three matches. Interestingly, the NCAA first round is the fourth time FGCU will face off against Florida. In addition, it is the second time both teams are competing against each other at the NCAA Tournament.
NCAA Round 1: FGCU Vs. Florida
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
Recently, team Florida embarked on the journey to dominate the opponent team, FGCU, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Soon after entering the NCAA volleyball turf, both the teams locked their horns to make this match a win for themselves. As per the recent tweet by Gator’s volleyball, it was captioned as, “First round.”
First round ✅#GoGators | Presented by @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/mSJNY9ubHQ
— Gators Volleyball (@GatorsVB) December 1, 2023
Even though team FGCU emerged victorious in the last three matches between Florida and FGCU, the case is different today. In the first set of the match, team Florida won by 18-25. Despite the intense competition given by team FGCU, Florida’s volleyball team again clinched the following set with 25-16.
In the last set of the showdown, Florida’s volleyball team showed prowess on the volleyball turf by overcoming the competition with 25-17. Eventually, Florida defeated the opponent team, FGCU, with a clean sweep of 3-0. The recent win in the showdown marks the undeterred potential of team Florida.
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
Florida’s exceptional game plan
Although today’s showdown was a collaborative effort by Team Florida, some players were exceptional. Notably, Kennedy Martin contributed the highest individual points in today’s match, 14.5. On the other hand, Sofia Victoria also portrayed her potential by scoring 13 points. In addition, Martin has a remarkable hitting percentage of .444 per cent, whereas Sofia Victoria has .269 per cent.
Read more: Penn State Volleyball Heads to Kansas to Kick off Their Highly Anticipated NCAA Season Against Yale
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
Consecutively, with outstanding players and the right strategy, team Florida made it to the upcoming second round of the NCAA Tournament. But, the second round will be comparatively harder than the first. The fourth-seeded team, Gators, aka Florida’s volleyball team, will be playing against No. 5 Georgia Tech this Friday. Will team Florida be able to win the second round?
Watch This Story – The Double-Attack of US Women’s Beach Volleyball Team on Sand Advances Them to the Prestigious World Championship Quarterfinals