Gators Earn Gritty Victory Over No. 11 Minnesota to Start Big Ten-SEC Challenge

Tuesday, September 1

Madison, WI

9 PM

Florida Gators

2-0,0-0SEC

#11 Minnesota

1-2,0-0Big Ten

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Florida	27	24	25	25	3
Minnesota	25	26	23	21	1

An athlete in a white Florida jersey jumps to spike a volleyball

Kamryn Chaney scored the last seven points against Minnesota on Tuesday. // Photo by Hannah White | UAA Communications

Gators Earn Gritty Victory Over No. 11 Minnesota to Start Big Ten-SEC Challenge

Wednesday, September 2, 2026 | Volleyball

Box Score Gamebook

Florida returns to action against No. 5 Wisconsin on Wednesday evening.

By: Andrew Hile

MADISON, Wis. – No. 17 Florida volleyball put together an impressive performance to earn its first ranked victory of the season, defeating No. 11 Minnesota 3-1 (27-25, 24-26, 25-23, 25-21) at UW Fieldhouse on Tuesday night.

Trailing 21-18 late in the fourth set, Kamryn Chaney took over for the Gators (2-0, 0-0 SEC) and put together one of the most impressive individual endings to a volleyball match in Florida history. The fourth-year outside hitter strung together six kills and a solo block to secure the match with a 25-21 set victory, finishing the set hitting .500.

Taylor Parks recorded her 1,000th career assist against the Golden Gophers (1-2, 0-0 Big 10), becoming the 18th Gator in program history to accomplish the feat. She ended her evening with 46 assists, four digs, three kills and two service aces.

Offensively, Florida was led by Selena Leban, who posted 20 kills on a .326 hitting percentage, matching her career best. The third-year also recorded eight digs, four aces, three assists and two blocks. Chaney added 14 kills and two blocks. As a team, Florida recorded 61 kills with a .245 hitting percentage, 54 assists and 11 service aces, while the Gophers tallied 52 kills, 50 assists and a .274 hitting percentage.

On the defensive side of the net, Lily Hayes posted 21 of Florida's 53 digs, with Bella Lee contributing 11. At the net, the Gators recorded five total team blocks, with Leban and Chaney each registering a solo block and block assist. Minnesota tallied 11 total team blocks and 49 digs.

The Golden Gophers were led by Mckenna Wucherer with 21 kills and 10 digs, while Jordan Taylor led the defense with seven block assists.

Set One - UF 27, Minnesota 25

Minnesota took their first lead of the set, 8-7, before two kills and an ace from Parks pushed Florida back into the lead, 10-8.
Parks recorded her 1,000th assist on a perfect ball to Chaney and gave UF an 11-10 advantage.
The Gophers used a 4-0 run, after facing three set points, to reclaim the lead at 25-24. Leban evened the match again with a kill before her second and third service aces secured the set one victory.
Florida notched six service aces in the opening set with Hayes, Parks and Emerson Hoyle adding to Leban's three.
Chaney and Leban each tallied four kills while Parks posted nine assists. Lily Hayes led the defense with five digs.
Minnesota recorded six service errors.

Set Two - Minnesota 26, UF 24

The Orange & Blue faced an early 5-1 deficit before a Chaney kill spurred a 4-0 run, capped-off by another kill from Leban, and pulled the Gators even.
With the score knotted at 12, a kill from Alec Rothe and subsequent ace from Bella Lee gave the Gators a two-point cushion for the first time in the set.
Parks provided a spark late in the game, catching the Minnesota defense off guard for a kill before tallying her second service ace to put Florida in front 21-19, but the Gophers would hold on for a 26-24 set-two win.
Florida tallied 15 kills, 13 assists, 14 digs and two aces for the set. Leban contributed five kills with King adding four. Hayes recorded seven of her digs in set two.

Set Three - UF 25, Minnesota 23

Trailing 4-3, UF put together a 4-0 run capped off by consecutive kills from Leban to claim a 7-4 advantage.
Minnesota reclaimed the lead, eventually opening up a 20-17 lead, but the Gators would claw back again to take the lead 22-21, with the 5-1 run finished by a Leban kill.
A block assist from Brooklyn Briscoe and Leban secured the win to give the Orange & Blue a 2-1 advantage in the match.
The Gators put together their best offensive set of the match, recording 16 kills while hitting .382.

Set Four - UF 25, Minnesota 21

Florida raced out to a 5-2 lead with help from a Jordyn Byrd kill.
The Orange & Blue extended their lead to 12-8 thanks to a kill from Chaney, but the Gophers wouldn't go away, climbing back to within one, 13-12. A pair of quick kills from Leban and Byrd to answer the Minnesota flurry extended the UF lead once again.
Minnesota put together a 4-0 run late in the set to claim a 21-18 lead, but Chaney answered with seven-straight points of her own to singlehandedly take the set and match for Florida.
Florida's defense held Minnesota to .167 hitting while hitting .306 on the offensive side with 18 kills. Chaney led the effort with seven kills.

Quotes from the Court
Head Coach Ryan Theis
…on getting the win over a strong Minnesota team
"Love the grit. That was a long stretch of having to play a very difficult team the first week, and I thought we had our ups and downs, but never lost our grit and the battle, then somebody gets hot and you get a win."

…on Kamryn Chaney's ending to the match
"I was out of challenges, but there was a touch call that I think fired her up because she got hosed on that call and then she scored the next seven points. Maybe she got fired up, mad at not getting a break, and then decided to take over. It was one of the most impressive endings to a match I've ever seen."

…on Selena Leban's offensive spark
"Selena had it going and really carried us through a long stretch of the match, not only in service, but offensively as well."

Third Year Selena Leban
…on her offensive performance
"First, I want to say how proud I am of my team because we've been working very hard in practice and we're starting to see what is missing on the court, and the connections got a lot better. I feel like I started slow, but my confidence grew. I'm really happy Kamryn came in with those kills at the end, that really helped me and the team. We beat a very good team and I'm so proud of our team."

Fourth Year Kamryn Chaney
…on taking over at the end of the match
"Honestly, in the huddle we had before, my teammates said we're going to go out swinging and we're going to go out together, giving our all. With the support of my teammates, I just went all out and tried to make the best decisions to help us win and get a point."

…on what she saw to make her run possible
"I was tuned-in, but they have really good blockers and they're really good with their hands, so I had to beat them or figure out ways to score that wasn't just driving right into their hands, since they're super tall. It helped me to also just take a moment, see what was in front of me, and make a decision and be aggressive."

Notables

The Gators move to 1-0 in the Big Ten-SEC Challenge.
Thursday marked Florida's 156th victory over a ranked opponent.
Florida is now 10-1 against teams ranked No. 11 nationally since 1984.
Taylor Parks became the 18th Gator to record 1,000 career assists.
Selena Leban matched her career-best in kills, posting 20.
The 11 service aces were the most in a match for the Gators since recording 12 against UCF on Nov. 11, 2023.
UF improves to 4-6 (1-0 under Ryan Theis) against the Golden Gophers.

Up Next
There's no rest for the Gators, as they're set to take on No. 5 Wisconsin on Wednesday, Sept. 2, at 8 p.m. ET in UW Fieldhouse.

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