No. 7 Gators Post Ninth Straight Win in Friday Sweep Over No. 11 Tennessee

Friday, October 2

Gainesville, FL

7 PM

Florida Gators

11-1,2-0SEC

#11 Tennessee

9-3,0-2SEC

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Tennessee	22	18	23	0
Florida	25	25	25	3

Gamebook

during the Gators' match against the Tennessee Volunteers on Friday, October 2, 2026 at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center in Gainesville, Fla. / UAA Communications photo by Emma Brugna

Logan King tallied a season-high 15 kills. // Photo by Emma Brugna | UAA Communications

No. 7 Gators Post Ninth Straight Win in Friday Sweep Over No. 11 Tennessee

Friday, October 2, 2026 | Volleyball

Box Score Gamebook Kentucky Tickets Photo Gallery

At 11-1, the Gators are off to their best start since the 2017 season.

By: Andrew Hile

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – No. 7 Florida volleyball has won its ninth straight match after a dominant 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-23) showing against No. 11 Tennessee in front of 6,022 fans at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center on Friday night.

Now off to their best start since the 2017 campaign, Florida (11-1, 2-0 SEC) got a season-high 15 kills from Logan King, while Kamryn Chaney and Alec Rothe added nine and eight, respectively. Taylor Parks ran the offense with 31 assists, and King also led the team with three of the Gators' four service aces. The Orange and Blue outhit Tennessee (9-3, 0-2 SEC) .276-.190 and edged the Lady Vols in kills, 43-42. Assists were even at 39 apiece, but Tennessee managed only one service ace to Florida's four.

Defensively, Brooklyn Briscoe and King each had five block assists as the Gators finished with eight total team blocks. In the back row, Lily Hayes and Bella Lee each notched 12 digs, and Parks added 10 for her fourth double-double of the year as Florida totaled 55. Tennessee finished with 45 digs and 10 team blocks.

Kennedi Rogers led the Lady Vols with 15 kills and six digs, and All-American setter Caroline Kerr finished with 38 assists and six digs. Chelsea Sutton led the defense with six blocks.

Set One - UF 25, Tennessee 22

The offense was run through the middles early, with Briscoe and Rothe recording the first three points for the Gators.
Trailing 7-4, Florida reeled off a 5-0 run with a pair of block assists from Briscoe and King, as well as two kills from King, to take a 9-7 lead.
After Tennessee reclaimed the lead, 10-9, the Gators opened up a 15-12 advantage following a 6-2 spurt that ended with a solo block and kill from Chaney.
The Orange & Blue extended their lead to six, 20-14, following back-to-back kills from Rothe.
The Lady Vols clawed back to within two at 23-21, but a Parks dump and Chaney kill pushed the Gators to a 25-22 set one victory.
A balanced offensive effort saw Chaney and Rothe lead the squad with four kills, while Parks dished out 11 assists.
Lee and Hayes anchored the back row with five and four of Florida's 18 digs, respectively.

Set Two - UF 25, Tennessee 18

The Lady Vols took a 6-4 lead after an early back-and-forth affair, before three straight points, capped off by a King service ace, put Florida back in front, 7-6.
Florida went on a 4-0 run, capped by a block assist from Briscoe and Parks, to take an 11-8 lead after falling behind by one.
A pair of kills from King in a 5-1 spurt for UF opened up a six-point lead, 18-12, forcing a Tennessee timeout.
Tennessee closed to within three, 19-16, before consecutive block assists (from Briscoe/King and Briscoe/Parks) calmed the Gators and pushed UF back in front by five on the way to a 25-18 set win.
The defense held Tennessee to .053 hitting, helped by four total team blocks and three block assists from Briscoe.
King put together a five-kill performance in the set.
Florida assisted on 10 of 12 kills, led by Parks' eight.

Set Three - UF 25, Tennessee 23

Neither team was able to gain an advantage early in the set, with the teams tied through 13. The Gators would take a 15-13 edge into the media timeout following a Briscoe kill and UT attack error.
The Lady Vols retook the lead, 17-16, as the teams continued to exchange points before a 4-0 burst that ended on a Parks ace put UF in front, 21-18.
Tennessee knotted the set once again at 23, but a King kill and setting error from UT gave the Gators the set and match win.
King put away seven of her 15 match kills in set three while the Gators hit .300, helped by 12 assists from Parks.
Hayes and Parks combined for 11 of UF's 20 digs, with six and five, respectively.
King and Parks both recorded service aces.

Quotes from the Court
Head Coach Ryan Theis
…on sweeping No. 11 Tennessee
"I just like the way we fight. We just kept competing and Tennessee came out throwing punches in the third, and we just kept it going. It was fun to watch."

…on Logan King's performance
"She had 20 points, 20.5 I think, and she can do that. What goes undetected in the stat book is passing, she's one of the very few right sides in the country that passes multiple rotations and she passed great. That doesn't show up, but she's pretty good. Glad she's on our team."

Third-Year Opposite Logan King
…on the atmosphere
"This was insane. I've played in a lot of cool arenas, I've had the opportunity to play internationally, but nothing has compared to the O'Dome. The love and support from the fans is incredible and I'm so excited to see that again on Sunday.

…on how the Gators were able to complete the sweep
"We've really been working hard in the gym, so we were ready for a battle. I'm glad we were able to execute each of our roles individually and really fight as a team."

…on her season-high in kills
"I'm feeling great. I think, like I said before, volleyball isn't an individual sport, it takes the whole team, so how good we were on serve-receive, how good Taylor was dishing out the balls and obviously the fans, it's hard not to play well in this gym."

Notables

With an 11-1 mark, the Gators are off to their best start since the 2017 team who began 14-0.
Florida improves to 58-15 all-time against the Lady Vols, including a 3-1 mark in SEC home-openers.
The Gators are now 38-5 in SEC home-openers.
Friday evening marked UF's second victory over an 11th-ranked team, also defeating No. 11 Minnesota on Sept. 1.
The Gators are now 3-1 against top 25 competition on the season.
Florida is 11-1 against teams ranked No. 11 all-time.
The victory over the Lady Vols gives the Orange & Blue their 159th ranked victory in program history.
The Gators are 2-0 to start SEC play for the first time since 2022.
6,022 marked a season-best attendance for Florida.
Florida had three athletes with 10 or more digs for the third time this season.
15 kills from Logan King marked a season-high and her best performance in a Florida uniform.
The Gators held an opponent under .200 hitting for the ninth time in 2026.

Up Next
The Gators now turn their attention to a marquee matchup on Sunday night, as No. 3 Kentucky visits Gainesville for an 8:30 p.m. matchup on ESPN.

FOLLOW FLORIDA VOLLEYBALL
FloridaGators.com
Instagram | Facebook | X