GAINESVILLE - Senior outside hitter Jane Collymore led a balanced attack with 14 kills on .367 hitting as eighth-seeded Florida defeated Florida Atlantic 30-19, 30-15, 30-14 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Thursday in front of 1,533 at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
Florida (31-2) earned the program's 16th straight NCAA opening match win. The Gators face Kansas State at 7 tonight. The Wildcats defeated Florida A&M 27-30, 30-14, 30-27, 30-28 in the other first-round match. Adriana Kostadinova had 21 kills and capped her career with 1,563, the second-most in FAMU history.
The Gators dominated Florida Atlantic in finishing with more kills (45-37), aces (8-2) and blocks (7-1).
"It was a very solid performance as indicated by the numbers," Florida coach Mary Wise said. "We were low-error and very good offensively."
Senior Rachel Engel moved into third in Florida history with 1,329 career digs.
Tampa defeats Concordia to reach semifinal
KEARNEY, Neb. - Tampa defeated Concordia University St. Paul 27-30, 30-23, 28-30, 30-27, 15-11 to advance to a Division II national semifinal match.
In Game 4, Tampa (29-3) relinquished a six-point lead but battled back to win.
"We work on being down, and having to tie it up. We had to focus point by point," Tampa senior Ericka Womack said.
Tampa faces Grand Valley State at 6 p.m. Saturday.
Tampa was led by Kayla Mora, who had 14 kills and five aces.
