No. 3 Florida 3, Mississippi 0
OXFORD, Miss. -- Behind a season-high 15 blocks, Florida stayed unbeaten in Southeastern Conference play with a 3-0 (25-13, 25-22, 25-12) sweep of Mississippi on Sunday. Florida’s 15 blocks are the most in a single match since Oct. 5, 2012 against Arkansas (16.5).
Sophomore middle blocker Simone Antwi led the block party for the Gators with a career-high-tying seven blocks (two solo, five assists) against the Rebels. Antwi was second on the team with 12.5 points as she also slammed seven kills.
Florida stuffed seven solo blocks as a team, tying for the sixth-most in a single match in program history. Seven solo stuffs are the most from the Gators since Oct. 5, 2012 at home vs. Arkansas.
Senior middle blocker Chloe Mann turned in her sixth errorless match of the season, hitting .583 with seven kills against Ole Miss. Mann is hitting .466 for her career, as she is the nation's active leader in the category and sits just behind NCAA record holder in career hitting percentage, Penn State's Arielle Wilson (.468).
Sophomore outside hitter Živa Recek led all players with 18.5 points against Ole Miss, The reigning National Freshman of the Year roofed four blocks against the Rebels, tying her career high.
No. 4 Southern California 3, Utah 0
SALT LAKE CITY -- Southern California outside hitter Samantha Bricio put up 20 points with 16 kills and four service aces to help USC (12-1, 2-0 Pac-12) complete a 3-0 sweep (25-22, 25-21, 25-13) of Utah (12-1, 1-0) at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on Sunday. The Women of Troy passed their first conference road test and won their sixth match in a row.
The Trojans also got nine kills (2e, 17att) and two blocks from freshman outside Ebony Nwanebu who hit .412 in the match. Junior outside Emily Young matched her career high with eight kills (3e, 16att) and junior middle Hannah Schraer added seven kills (2e, 16att, .312) to go with four blocks in the match. Senior outside Sara Shaw had five kills and a service ace but made her presence felt on the defensive side of the ball with 14 digs.
Defensively, senior libero Natalie Hagglund posted a match-high 18 digs and dished out seven assists. She had 12 digs in the second set alone to help USC hold the Utes to a .205 hitting rate in the match (36k, 13e, 112att). USC's setters were on point as junior Hayley Crone (16 assists) and freshman Alice Pizzasegola (19 assists) helped the Trojans put up a .280 hitting percentage (49k, 16e, 118att). USC has outhit its opponent in all 13 matches, this season.
For Utah, Shelby Dalton was an offensive catalyst as she led the team with 10 kills (1e, 22att) and hit .409. Morgan Odale enjoyed a solid outing with eight kills (2e, 28att, .214) while Erin Redd-Brandon and Alli Spurrier each had six kill apiece.
No. 6 Hawaii 3, UC Riverside 0
HONOLULU -- Sixth-ranked Hawaii finished off a perfect Big West Conference opening weekend with a 25-7, 25-13, 25-15 win against UC Riverside on Sunday evening at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Emily Hartong drilled a match-high 12 kills for the Rainbow Wahine, who improved to 13-1 overall and 2-0 in the Big West. The Highlanders dropped to 1-12 and 0-1 in league play. Kaela Goodman had a career-high six blocks and Ashley Kastl added six kills and a season-high 10 digs. Nine different Rainbow Wahine recorded kills on the evening.
Ashley Cox nearly had a double-double for UC Riverside with nine kills and nine digs.
The Rainbow Wahine opened the first set scoring early and often. Hawaii scored the set's first five points then extended the lead to 11-1 off a Taylor kill. Kills by Vorster and Kalei Adolpho (four kills) helped the lead swell to 14-3. The Rainbow Wahine, who had broken the rally scoring record two days ago for least points allowed in a set, came just two shy of that when they raced to the 25-7 win.
The second set began in similar fashion when Hawaii scored six of the first seven points sparked by Taylor, who smashed half of her six kills in the run. A pair of Cox kills cut the lead to 17-8 but Hawaii sprinted to the finish line as Goodman closed the door with a pair of blocks.
The early going of the third set was more competitive but the Rainbow Wahine eventually proved to be too much for UC Riverside. With the score at 7-5, Hawaii went on an 8-2 run to propel it to its third consecutive sweep.
