The No. 3 University of Florida volleyball team opens Southeastern Conference play with arguably the toughest road trip in league action this season, traveling to Lexington, Ky., to face No. 22 Kentucky on Friday and to Knoxville, Tenn., to play No. 18 Tennessee on Sunday.
The Gators and Wildcats will square off at 7 p.m. ET Friday at Memorial Coliseum and the match will be carried live on ROCK 104 (103.7 FM) in Gainesville with Tom Collett. Sunday’s match-up with Tennessee is slated for 2 p.m. ET from Thompson-Boling Arena and the contest will be aired live on CSS and on ROCK 104.
The Gators (6-1) enter the SEC slate having defeated four top-15 opponents in the pre-conference schedule. Florida is 22-4 all-time in SEC openers, including a perfect 19-0 during head coach Mary Wise’s tenure.
For the 13th time in Wise’s Florida career and the ninth year in a row, the Gators enter conference play with one loss or fewer.
“The season starts Friday night in Lexington,” Wise said. “Everything that we’ve done so far has been great for learning and for experience, but we understand that it starts Friday night. We fully expect that they will have a great crowd there. We have to rely on the things that we’ve learned over the past three weeks to help us as we head into SEC play.”
Junior right-side/setter Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.) leads the Gators offensively, averaging 2.71 kills per set, while senior outside hitter Callie Rivers (Winter Park, Fla.) and junior outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.) follow with 2.15 and 2.14 kills per set, respectively.
Murphy dishes out a squad-best 5.14 assists per set, while freshman setter Chanel Brown (Tempe, Ariz.) adds 4.68 assists per set. Brown also ranks 10th in the SEC with nine service aces on the year.
Senior libero Erin Fleming (Orlando, Fla.) heads the team’s back-row effort with a team-high 3.46 digs per set, while senior middle blocker Lauren Bledsoe (Long Beach, Calif.) posts 1.07 blocks per set.
Much of Florida’s success during its pre-conference schedule came from a balanced offensive output and a powerful blocking brigade. The Gators have out-blocked their opponents 75.5-59.5, a +16 edge so far this season. Florida has recorded double-figure blocks in five of seven matches this season.
The Gators and Wildcats meet for the 51st time in the history of the two programs, marking the second-longest rivalry in UF annals as the Gators have met only Georgia (68 times) more times in program history. UF holds a 41-9 advantage in the all-time series, including a 39-2 mark under Wise. The Gators are 17-4 all-time when the match is contested in Lexington. The two teams split a pair of matches last season with Kentucky winning in Gainesville and Florida emerging victorious in Lexington.
The 22nd-ranked Wildcats enter Friday’s match with a 6-4 record, but have won two consecutive matches, sweeping Virginia Commonwealth and winning a five-set thriller against Kansas State this past weekend. Redshirt freshman outside hitter Whitney Billings, the reigning SEC Freshman of the Week, leads the way for Kentucky, averaging a squad-best 3.28 kills per set, while seniors Blaire Hiler and Lauren Rapp follow with 2.55 and 2.25 kills per set, respectively. The Wildcats have used a pair of setters in Christine Hartmann and Elizabeth Koberstein, who average 9.08 and 6.22 assists per set, respectively. Redshirt freshman Alexandra Morgan has recorded a team-high 1.12 blocks per set this season.
The Gators and Lady Vols meet for the 50th time in the history of the two programs, tied for the third-longest rivalry in UF school history. UF leads the all-time series 40-9, including a 36-4 tally under Wise’s direction. The Gators hold a 17-4 edge when the match is played in Knoxville. The two teams split a pair of matches last season with Florida winning in Gainesville and Tennessee coming away with the win in Knoxville.
The 18th-ranked ranked Lady Vols enter this weekend with an 8-1 overall record, going 2-1 last weekend at the Baymont Inn and Suites Invitational at Athens, Ohio. Tennessee lost to Northwestern in five sets before defeating host Ohio and Pittsburgh. The Lady Vols lead the SEC in a number of categories including hitting percentage (.296), kills per set (14.47) and assists per set (13.12). Senior outside hitter Nikki Fowler leads the way for the Lady Vols offensively with 3.73 kills per set, which ranks fourth in the SEC. Senior middle blocker Leah Hinkey has a squad-best .348 hitting efficiency and also ranks fourth in the league with 1.25 blocks per set. Freshman Kelsey Robinson leads the team’s back-row effort with 3.10 digs per set.
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QUICK NOTES
· The Gators are 98-79 (.554) all-time vs. teams ranked in the American Volleyball Coaches Association top-25 poll at the time of the match. Florida is 4-1 this season against ranked foes.
· Florida is 22-4 (.846) all-time in Southeastern Conference openers, including a perfect 19-0 record during head coach Mary Wise’s tenure.
· The 2010 campaign marks the 27th season of Florida volleyball (beginning 1984). The Gators are 765-168 (.820) all-time in program history.
· Florida’s 609 wins since 1991 are the most of any team in the nation during that time period.
· After beginning the season ranked No. 13 in the AVCA Top-25 Coaches Poll, the Gators currently rank No. 3 nationally, marking the program’s highest ranking since the final poll of the 2005 season.
· Junior right-side/setter Kelly Murphy turned in her 17th career triple-double last Friday night vs. Penn State and her second this season. She holds the Florida school record in that category. Angie McGinnis (four career triple-doubles) is the only other Gator to record a triple-dip.
· Murphy currently ranks ninth on Florida’s all-time career assists list with 1,514 career dishes. Accomplishing that in just 69 career matches is an impressive feat, considering she has spent all but six matches of her collegiate career setting in a 6-2 offensive scheme.
· Senior middle blocker Lauren Bledsoe leads the Gators with an average of 1.07 blocks per set. She has recorded four or more blocks on five occasions this season, including tying her career high with seven rejections against then-No. 2 Nebraska.
