Fifteen service aces and a .329 hitting percentage were too much for Illinois State against No. 2 Florida as the Gators dropped the Redbirds 30-10, 30-16, 30-19 in the first round of the Disney Conference Challenge Friday at Disneys Wide World of Sports.
The Redbirds, 14-14, were led by Erin Jones with eight kills and Jenny Kabbes with seven digs. Illinois States 24 kills and 29 hitting errors produced a negative hitting percentage for the first time this season.
Florida, 30-1, got eight kills from Nicole McCray, seven from Michelle Chatman and six from Aury Cruz. But Cruz, an All-American, blistered the Birds with seven of the 15 Florida service aces.
Redbird coach Sharon Dingman was disappointed with her teams performance.
It was a pretty lax effort on our part, said Dingman. We need to come out (Saturday) and compete to get what we wanted out of this tournament.
The Redbirds conclude their season against Georgia, which dropped a five-game match against Northern Iowa Friday, at 11 a.m. central time Saturday.
