The No. 4 Texas Longhorns (19-2) broke a two-game losing streak after traveling to Gainesville to face the Florida Gators (13-9), securing a 3-1 victory on Friday with the 2025 SEC Volleyball Tournament
approaching, giving Texas 7 wins in the 11 last matchups against the Gators.
In the opening set, Florida jumped out to a 5-1 lead and extended it to 10-5 with some help of some strong defense at the net. An ace kept the momentum rolling and consecutive kills followed by a block pushed the Gators ahead, 17-8.
Texas responded, piecing together three separate 3-0 scoring runs to narrow the gap to four before sending the opening set to extra points after evening the score, 24-24. The teams battled point for point, but two Florida blocks sealed the opening set, 31-29, to go up 1-0 in the match.
In the first set, the Longhorns had a .200 hitting percentage with 17 kills, 17 assists, 19 digs, and three blocks with zero aces. Longhorn junior setter Ella Swindle recorded her 2,00th career assist in the opening set, finishing the first set with 13 assists and five digs while senior libero Emma Halter held the back line down, registering five digs.
In set two, the Longhorns limited the Gators’ offense to a .219 hitting percentage, while hitting .344 themselves. Junior outside hitter Torrey Stafford led the charge with six kills, hitting with a .462 percentage. After trailing 5-1, the Gators found their rhythm and went on a 7-1 scoring run with offensive attacks to take a 7-6 lead. The teams traded points through the middle of the frame before the Longhorns strung together back-to-back points with the aid of Stafford to keep the Longhorns momentum going with two kills to extend their lead, 21-15. The Gators kept the fight up with kills, but the Longhorns took the second set, 25-18. Texas ended the second set with a .344 hitting percentage, 14 kills, 12 assists, nine digs, and two blocks to even the match.
In the third set, Texas totaled 16 kills while holding Florida to a .177 hitting percentage and 10 kills. Swindle and sophomore setter Rella Binney combined for 14 assists, while Halter notched 6 digs. An ace and a block kept the Gators within one, 7-6, at the beginning of set three. The Longhorns responded with a pair of kills to gain a 15-10 lead before Texas went on a 4–1 scoring run to push ahead to 19-11. Despite a late rally, the Gators were unable to complete the comeback and fell, 25-19. The third set ended with the Longhorns netting a .333 hitting percentage with 16 kills, 16 assists, and 14 digs.
In the fourth and final set, Florida opened a 5-3 lead, but Texas stayed close and evened the score at eights after recording back-to-back kills. The Longhorns offense hit .483 with 15 kills, led by Stafford, who totaled eight kills while hitting .533. The Texas defense held Florida to a .083 hitting percentage by forcing eight attacking errors.
The teams traded points before a series of Florida errors gave Texas a three-point advantage, 13-10. The Longhorns maintained control from there, committing just one hitting error on 29 attacks to secure the 25-19 fourth-set win, hitting .483 hitting percentage with 15 kills.
Swindle finished the night with 31 and seven digs while Stafford led the Longhorns with 21 kills and eight digs, marking her fifth time this season with at least 20 kills while finishing with just three errors and hitting .346. True freshman Cari Spears registered her sixth straight game with double-digit kills, recording 13 while hitting .333 and adding three digs. Redshirt senior outside hitter Whitney Lauenstein stepped up, slamming six kills and twio blocks during the final two sets with a .545 hitting percentage.
Texas finished the night strong at the net with 7 blocks led by sophomore middle blockers Ayden Ames with 4 and Nya Bunton’s 3. The Longhorns outhit the Gators with 62 kills and handed them their third-lowest hitting percentage of the 2025 season at .164 with 55 kills. Texas forced 30 total errors while only committing 15 themselves.
With two matches left, Texas will travel to face off against Tigers for the final road trip of the 2025 regular season on November 12 at 6:00 p.m. Central on SEC Network+.
