No. 8 Gators Handle Jacksonville in Nonconference Finale

Wednesday, September 23

Gainesville, FL

6:30 PM

Florida Gators

9-1,0-0SEC

Jacksonville

6-7,0-0ASUN

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Jacksonville	18	21	13	0
Florida	25	25	25	3

Gamebook

during the Gators' match against the Jacksonville Dolphins on Wednesday, September 23, 2026 at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center in Gainesville, Fla. / UAA Communications photo by Emma Brugna

Lily Hayes matched a career-high with four service aces. // Photo by Emma Brugna | UAA Communications

No. 8 Gators Handle Jacksonville in Nonconference Finale

Wednesday, September 23, 2026 | Volleyball

Box Score Gamebook Photo Gallery

The Gators open SEC play on Sunday, Sept. 27, at Oklahoma.

By: Andrew Hile

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – No. 8 Florida volleyball took care of business Wednesday evening inside the Stephen C. O'Connell Center, closing out the nonconference slate with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-13) victory over Jacksonville.

The Gators (9-1, 0-0 SEC) will enter Southeastern Conference play on a seven-match winning streak, marking their best start since the 2023 season.

Strong serving helped propel Florida to the victory, as the Orange & Blue matched a season-high 11 service aces, led by a career-high four from Lily Hayes. Offensively, Kamryn Chaney and Logan King paced the attack with nine and seven kills, respectively, while Taylor Parks tallied 30 of UF's 36 assists. As a team, the Gators outhit Jacksonville (6-7, 0-0 ASUN), .287-.112, while also recording more kills (39-27), assists (36-27) and aces (11-3).

Florida controlled the defensive side of the net as well, posting seven total team blocks to the Dolphins' three, with three apiece from Brooklyn Briscoe and Alec Rothe. Bella Lee and Selena Leban anchored the defense with nine and eight digs, helping the Gators to a 39-30 digs advantage over JU.

Jacksonville was led by Abbie Tuyo's nine-kill, five-dig effort, while Preseason Atlantic Sun Player of the Year Haley Yount added six kills and five digs.

Set One - UF 25, Jacksonville 18

It was a quick start to the match for UF, with the Gators taking a 5-1 lead early, helped by a service ace from Hayes.
The Dolphins evened the set at nine, but a 4-1 spurt with back-to-back Chaney kills pushed the Gators back in front, 13-10.
Florida opened up the biggest lead of the set at the end, finishing on a 3-0 run with kills from Milicia Vidacic and Chaney to win the frame, 25-18.
Jacksonville was held to .089 hitting, with Florida's defense tallying two total team blocks and 17 digs.
Parks directed the offense with 12 assists while Chaney put away six kills.

Set Two - UF 25, Jacksonville 21

Facing a 10-8 deficit, the Gators were boosted by a Brooklyn Briscoe kill along with a Parks and Rothe block assist to tie the set.
Jacksonville reclaimed a 14-12 advantage, but the Gators responded with a 4-1 burst to retake the lead, 16-15, following consecutive kills from King.
A 3-0 run from the Dolphins pushed Jacksonville in front once again, but Jordyn Byrd put down a ball off an overpass and followed with a block assist alongside Briscoe to give UF a 19-18 edge.
The Orange & Blue wouldn't relinquish the lead again, using five straight points that featured two kills from Byrd and a Hayes ace to open up a 24-19 lead en route to the 25-21 set win.
King and Byrd both posted four kills to lead the UF offense.
Briscoe, Byrd and Rothe each recorded two blocks, helping Florida to record four total team blocks, while Bella Lee led the defense with six of UF's 15 digs.

Set Three - UF 25, Jacksonville 13

The Parks-Rothe connection was working early, with two straight kills from Rothe giving Florida an early 7-4 lead.
Jacksonville responded with four points of its own to take the lead before Briscoe and King kills put the Gators back in front, 10-8.
Back-to-back service aces from Kira Hutson gave the Orange & Blue some breathing room at 14-9.
A 9-1 run, with two aces from Hayes and one from both Olivia Klimis and Parks, put the match away for good as UF opened up a 23-11 lead before claiming the set 25-13.
Florida posted seven of its 11 service aces in the final frame.
Offensively, it was the best set for UF who hit .348 with 11 kills.

Quotes from the Court
Head Coach Ryan Theis
…on what the team is working on heading into SEC play
"Just consistency and sideout. Each match presents a challenge. Today we weren't great in transition, so do we have to scrap everything and go back to transition? In reality it's just making sure we're siding-out and doing our stuff on defense as well.

…on Taylor Parks' ability to lead the offense
"She's our leader, she runs the show. Her and Lily [Hayes] do a really good job of handling first and second touches. Their job is to make other people look good and they're good at it."

Third-Year Setter Taylor Parks
…on her chemistry with her teammates
"This is the best chemistry of the three teams I've been on here at Florida. I think it's because we're all so competitive and have our minds on the same goals, so we just mesh together very well. I love playing with each one of these girls individually."

…on her mindset when leading the offense
"This year we've been making our offense more creative because we have threats on all parts of the court. We have so many amazing hitters, so it's a very spread-out offense, we're not going to the same person every time and being one-dimensional in that way. We're running a lot of different routes, hitters swinging from different spots on the court and changing it up, and I think it makes it a lot harder for opponents since you never know who we're giving it to or where they'll be on the net."

Notables

The Gators improve to 20-0 all-time against the Dolphins.
Florida has matched the best start since 2023 at 9-1. The 2023 squad began the season 10-1.
The Gators will enter SEC play on a seven-match win streak.
With the victory over Jacksonville, Florida has swept in-state competition during the nonconference, claiming wins over Miami, Florida Atlantic, Florida State and Jacksonville.
Eleven service aces match a season-high for the Gators.
Lily Hayes matched a career-high with four service aces.
Milica Vidacic recorded her first kill of the season.
Olivia Klimis tallied her first service ace as a Gator.
Florida held an opponent to under .200 hitting for the seventh time this season.

Up Next
The Orange & Blue will open SEC play on Sunday, Sept. 27 when they travel to Norman, Okla., for a 3 p.m. ET matchup with Oklahoma on SEC Network+.

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