University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
1-2,0-0Big Ten
Florida
2-0,0-0SEC
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | 27 | 24 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
| Minnesota | 25 | 26 | 23 | 21 | 1 |
Players Mentioned
Team Stats
Game Leaders
Gophers Fall to No. 17 Florida
9/1/2026 11:04:00 PM | Volleyball
In a back-and-forth match, the No. 11 University of Minnesota fell, 3-1, to No. 17 Florida tonight in Madison, Wis., as part of the 2026 Allstate Big Ten/SEC Challenge. The Golden Gophers (1-2) fell to the Gators (2-0), 25-27, 26-24, 23-25, 21-25. Over the course of the match, the two teams tied 49 times, while 19 lead changes occurred. Florida cut Minnesota's lead in the all-time series to 6-4.
Mckenna Wucherer tied a career-high 21 kills when she hit .388 in 49 swings and committed just two errors. Kelly Kinney followed with 13 kills and hit .385, while Elena Hoecke established a career-high 10 kills. Stella Swenson had 41 assists, while Jordan Taylor had seven blocks. Zeynep Palabiyik had a team-best 16 digs.
As a team, Minnesota hit .274 for the match compared to Florida's .245 and outblocked the Gators, 11-5. Florida, however, had 11 aces to Minnesota's four.
Next Up:
Minnesota concludes the Allstate Big Ten/SEC Challenge tomorrow when it competes against Auburn. The match is set for 5 p.m. and will air on FS1.
Set Breakdown:
Set 1: Minnesota and Florida exchanged 16 ties and six lead changes as Florida closed out the set, 27-25. Minnesota and Florida traded points through 17-17. The Gators took a 20-18 lead off two Minnesota errors, one hitting and one service error, as the Gophers called a timeout. Minnesota responded and cut the Gator lead to 22-21 off an ace by Kate Thibault, which forced Florida to call a timeout. Florida, however, pushed the set to 24-21 on a block as the Gophers used their second timeout. Minnesota battled back and fought off four set points. A kill from Hoecke followed by a Hoecke/Kinney block pushed the score to 24-23. Kinney fought off set point on a kill. Tied at 24 and again at 25 before the Gators closed out the set with back-to-back aces, their fifth and sixth aces of the set.
Set 2: Minnesota opened the second set with a 5-0 run as Florida called an early timeout. The Gators, however, responded and tied the set at 5-5. Like the first set, the two teams traded points until Florida took a narrow 15-13 lead at the media timeout. The Gophers tied the set at 16-16 off a Wucherer ace. Florida took a narrow 21-19 lead, but the Gophers tied it up at 22. They tied again at 23 and 24 before Minnesota closed out the set, 26-24 off a Florida service error and a kill by Kinney to even the match, 1-1.
Set 3: The Gators erased a three-point deficit to take a 25-23 set win. Florida opened the third with a 7-4 lead, which forced Minnesota to call a timeout. Minnesota battled back and tied the set at 9-9 off a kill from Kinney. A Wucherer ace pushed the score to 15-13. A Gilk/Taylor block put the Gopher lead to 20-17 as Florida called a timeout. The Gators battled back and rattled off three in a row to tie the set at 20. Tied at 23, the Gators closed out the set off a kill and a block to take a 2-1 match lead.
Set 4: Florida used a 7-0 run at the end of the set to take the set, 25-21, and match, 3-1. Minnesota called a timeout as Florida took an early 8-4 lead off back-to-back kills. After Florida built a 12-8 lead, Minnesota cut it to 12-10 off a Wucherer kill. Trailing 12-15, Minnesota responded and came back to tie the set at 17-17 off a Gopher block and a Gator attack error, which forced Florida to call a timeout. Minnesota used a 3-0 lead to take a 21-18 lead as Florida took a timeout. The Gators came out of their final timeout with six kills from Kamryn Chaney as well as a block to solidify the win.