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No. 3 Florida Snaps No. 9 PSU's Nine-Game Win Streak
Gators clinch second match of American Volleyball Classic

September 21, 2002 | Stats

Florida's Aury Cruz had a game-high 27 kills and 15 digs.

WASHINGTON — The method of taking every other game worked for the No. 3 Florida volleyball team Friday night at American University's Bender Arena as the Gators beat No. 9 Penn State 3-2 in the second match of the American Volleyball Classic by scores of 32-30, 20-30, 32-30, 28-30, 15-13. It marks only the second time in school history that UF has topped the PSU as the series now stands at 5-2.

The two teams had remarkably similar statistics. Florida (8-1) had 74 kills to PSU's 71. Hitting-wise, the Nittany Lions had a .179 percentage compared with UF's .176. Furthering the parity, Penn State (9-1) recorded 63 assists to the Gators' 66.

UF's Aury Cruz had a game-high 27 kills and 15 digs.
Two other Gators reached double-digits in kills as Jacque Robinson had 17 and Nicole McCray finished with 13.

PSU freshman Syndie Nadeau set a career-high of 21 kills to go with 11 digs. Mishka Levy was impressive with 18 kills and Cara Smith pitched in with 14.

Nittany Lion setter Sam Tortorello dished out all 62 assists for her team. Florida's Lauren Moscovic had 49 assists and Rachel Engel added 11.

Florida will face host American University Sunday at 2 p.m. in the championship match while PSU takes on Yale in the consolation round at 11:30 a.m.

Match Summary
Kills: UF 74; PSU 71
Hitting Percentage: PSU .179; UF .176
Digs: UF 68; PSU 59
Assists: UF 66; PSU 63