Florida Advances to Regional Final

Omaha ? Fueled by a career night from sophomore Amber McCray, eighth-seeded Florida swept past No. 9 seed Louisville 30-28, 30-25, 30-22, to advance to the final of the Omaha Regional and move within one match of earning a berth in the Volleyball Championships in San Antonio, Texas.

McCray posted a career-high 16 kills and added a career-high eight blocks, as the Gators won their 12th consecutive match and were victorioius for the 26th time in the last 27 matches. Florida advanced to the regional final for the fourth time in the last five seasons and the 12th time under Head Coach Mary Wise, who has headed the Florida program for the past 15 seasons.

Louisville, which matched the best NCAA Tournament finish in school history, ended its season with a 31-3 record.

Florida opened the first game with an 8-3 run where four different players snagged kills, including two each from Kisya Killingsworth and Marcie Hapton. Louisville fought back to take a 15-14 lead before the Gators went on a 10-3 run, capped by a dominant double-stuff block from Kari Klinkenbord and McCray. Within the 10-3 run, the Gators' ran off six unanswered points, one of two stretches in the match where Florida strung together unanswered runs of six or more points. Jane Collymore pounded away two kills that went untouched during the run.

The Cardinals continued to fight back, pulling to within 29-28 before Angie McGinnis put the game away with a booming kill to the right corner that earned the Gators the game one victory. The Cardinals' loss in game one was just the third time this year that they lost the first game as Florida outhit Louisville .300 to .216. Collymore led the Gators' attack with six kills.

Florida opened game two with a commanding 9-3 start led by two kills from McCray, who tallied seven in the second game alone. The Cardinals pulled to within 21-18 led by two kills from Ana Yartseva before Florida went on a 5-1 run to take control of the game at 26-19. The Gators outhit the Cardinals .255 to .250 in the game and outdug Lousiville 28-21. Rachel Engel recorded 11 digs for the match to move into second place in the Florida career record book.

Trailing 2-0 in a match for the first time all season, Louisville responded by winning three of the first four points of the third game. The game was tight throughout, with 12 ties. The game was tied at 21-21 following a Florida kill from Collymore. The Gators, which trailed 21-19, ran off seven consecutive points and closed the game on an 11-1 run to win the match. Angie McGinnis served a pair of aces to account for the Gators' final two points.

Florida advances to Saturday's regional final against the winner of Friday's second match between No. 1 seed Nebraska and 16th-seeded UCLA. Saturday's match will begin at 5 p.m. and will be televised live on ESPNU.