No. 17 Gators Fall in Five-Set Heartbreaker at No. 5 Wisconsin

Wednesday, September 2

Madison, WI

8 PM

Florida Gators

2-1,0-0SEC

#5 Wisconsin

2-3,0-0Big Ten

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Florida	21	25	19	26	13	2
Wisconsin	25	20	25	24	15	3

An athlete in an orange jersey swings over the net

Alec Rothe posted a career-high 11 blocks against No. 5 Wisconsin. // Photo by Hannah White | UAA Communications

No. 17 Gators Fall in Five-Set Heartbreaker at No. 5 Wisconsin

Thursday, September 3, 2026 | Volleyball

Box Score Gamebook

Florida will be back in action on Saturday in Waco, Texas, against No. 20 Baylor.

By: Andrew Hile

MADISON, Wis. – No. 17 Florida volleyball pushed No. 5 Wisconsin to the brink on Friday night, falling in five sets (21-25, 25-20, 19-25, 26-24, 13-15) in UW Fieldhouse on Wednesday evening after defeating No. 11 Minnesota on Tuesday night.

The Gators (2-1, 0-0 SEC) ended their night with 57 kills, led by fourth year outside hitter Kamryn Chaney with 22 kills and 25 points, in addition to five blocks. Taylor Parks tallied 46 points for the second-straight night to direct the offense. As a team, UF hit .265 with 53 assists and three service aces.

Alec Rothe anchored the defensive effort with a career-best 11 blocks, by way of 10 block assists and a solo block. Rothe also recorded 10 kills and four digs. Lily Hayes and Selena Leban both eclipsed 10 digs at 18 and 10, respectively, as the Gator posted 48 total. At the net, the Orange & Blue got up for 16 blocks, doubling Wisconsin's (2-3, 0-0 Big Ten) total and marked the second time the team has ended with more than 10 this season. It was also the first time Florida ended with more than 15 blocks since Nov. 22, 2023 against South Carolina.

Three Badgers ended with double-digit kills, led by Audrey Flanagan's 18, while the team finished with 71 kills with a .257 percentage. Anna Bardaro put together 19 digs to lead the defensive effort, part of Wisconsin's 69.

Set One - Wisconsin 25, UF 21

Leban continued her strong serving early, with her first two opportunities to leading to a pair of poor Wisconsin receptions that resulted in a Chaney kill to give the Gators an early 4-2 lead.
Florida forced a timeout with a 10-7 advantage following a Brooklyn Briscoe kill off of a perfectly placed ball from Parks.
Wisconsin battled back with a 6-1 spurt, taking a 15-12 lead into the media timeout before ultimately taking the set, 25-21.
Chaney led the offensive effort with six of UF's 12 kills, while Logan King tallied four digs. As a team, the Gators recorded three blocks, including solo blocks from Chaney and Leban.

Set Two - UF 25, Wisconsin 20

The Gators grabbed momentum early in the second, helped by a diving pass into the bench from King that eventually led to a block assist alongside Rothe. She followed her effort with a kill to make it 7-3.
After holding a 15-13 edge following the media timeout, the Orange & Blue forced a quick Wisconsin timeout after King's first service ace of the match, extending Florida's lead to three, 18-15.
Parks' first ace of the match gave the Gators a four-point cushion, 22-18, helping creating enough separation to pull away for a 25-20 set two victory.
Florida hit .314 in the set, assisting on 12 of their 14 kills. Chaney and King both tallied four kills, while Parks added 12 assists.
The UF defense held the Badgers to .189 hitting in the second set, with strong defense at the net playing a part by way of six block assists. Hayes got down for eight digs to lead UF.

Set Three - Wisconsin 25, UF 19

Wisconsin led by as many as five midway through the third, but a lineup shift that inserted Jordyn Byrd and Kira Hutson helped pull the Gators back to within one, 18-17, following kills by Byrd and Leban, and an ace from Hutson. The Badgers would pull away for the 25-19 win, however.
The Gators tallied six block assists once again, with Rothe recording two.

Set Four - UF 26, Wisconsin 24

The Gators were locked in to start set four, quickly opening up a 5-0 lead following back-to-back block assists from Chaney and Rothe.
Parks made a diving save off the right side of the court, feeding a ball that Briscoe sent over down the line to give Florida an 11-6 lead.
Florida led by as many as seven, but the Badgers clawed their way back to take the lead late in the set, 23-22.
Chaney responded with back-to-back kills, and a diving pass which resulted in a Wisconsin attack error, to lead UF into the deciding fifth set.
The Gators tallied 14 kills on .317 hitting along with 18 digs, 14 assists, six block assists and a solo block. Chaney put together six kills with two block assists and Leban anchored the defense with six digs.

Set Five - Wisconsin 15, UF 13

Wisconsin opened the set on a 6-1 run, but the Orange & Blue fought back to within one at 12-11 following a Chaney kill and Byrd and Rothe block.
Moments later, Leban and Rothe evened the period at 13 with another block assist. Wisconsin would hold on for the 15-13 set and match victory.
Chaney recorded three kills while Leban tallied two block assists.

Quotes from the Court
Head Coach Ryan Theis
…on his team's performance against No. 5 Wisconsin
"Our team showed extraordinary grit and toughness tonight against a top-five Wisconsin team with four days of rest. To battle and get this match to five sets after a 9 o'clock midweek win over the No. 11 team in the country shows how far we've come in a year. These women are warriors and I'm proud to be their coach."

Notables

Alec Rothe posted a career-high 11 blocks.
Wednesday was the first time since Nov. 22, 2023 that Florida recorded more than 15 blocks.
The Gators have recorded 10 or more blocks twice this season.
With Chaney's 22 kills, UF had athletes with 20 kills in back-to-back matches.
Florida ends the inaugural Big Ten-SEC Challenge with a 1-1 mark, defeating No. 11 Minnesota.
The all-time series record moves to 6-4, in favor of UF.

Up Next
Florida will continue its four-match road trip, heading to Waco, Texas, for a matchup with No. 20 Baylor on Saturday, Sept. 5, at 2 p.m. ET.

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