The No. 2 Florida volleyball team will face one of its toughest tests of the conference season on Friday night when it squares off with No. 16 LSU, the 2009 Southeastern Conference Champion, in a battle of league unbeatens. Opening serve at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center is slated for 7 p.m. ET and the match will be carried live on GatorVision Online and ROCK 104 (103.7 FM in Gainesville) with Tom Collett and Missy Whittemore.
The Gators (10-1, 3-0 SEC) will be facing their ninth ranked opponent in 12 matches this season, as Florida has compiled a 7-1 mark against ranked foes during the 2010 campaign. Either Florida or LSU has won at least a share of the SEC volleyball title in every year since 1989.
Friday’s match is City of Gainesville Night. Admission is free to all Gainesville city residents who present a valid driver’s license with a Gainesville residential address at the marketing table outside of Gate 1 of the O’Connell Center. Free admission passes will be granted at that marketing table, as licenses will not be accepted at the turnstile. Children and youth 17 and under receive free admission to all regular-season home matches.
Friday also is UF Alumni Association Night. Members of the UF Alumni Association can show their UF Alumni Association card at Gate 1 to receive free admission to the match.
Tickets are $4 for adults. For more ticket information, log on to www.GatorZone.com/tickets or call the UF Ticket Office at (800) 34-GATOR.
“LSU is the team that won the league last year and, credit their staff and their program, in that they did graduate some fantastic players, especially Brittnee Cooper, but they have just reloaded,” Florida head coach Mary Wise said. “They are a hard-nosed, gritty group of players, that really plays hard. Our team has great respect for LSU and their program. To play them Friday night – it should be really exciting. There is certainly a buzz among our team and our fans for Friday’s match.”
As a team, Florida leads the SEC in both blocks per set (2.82) and service aces per set (1.62).
Junior right-side/setter Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.), who is tied for the national lead in triple-doubles this year with four, leads the Gators with 3.07 kills per set on .355 hitting, which goes down as the fifth-best hitting efficiency in the SEC this season. Murphy also averages a squad-best 5.48 assists per set, while also adding 2.14 digs per set and 0.67 blocks per set.
Junior outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.) and senior outside hitter Callie Rivers (Winter Park, Fla.) follow with 2.29 and 2.22 kills per set, respectively.
Senior libero Erin Fleming (Orlando, Fla.) heads the team’s back-row effort with 3.50 digs per set, while three Florida players average better than 0.95 blocks per set. Senior middle blocker Lauren Bledsoe (Long Beach, Calif.) averages a team-high 1.17 blocks per set, while junior middle blocker Cassandra Anderson (Bakersfield, Calif.) and sophomore right-side Tangerine Wiggs (Seattle, Wash.) follow with 1.12 and 0.96 blocks per set, respectively.
The Gators and Tigers meet for the 44th time in the history of the two programs with Florida holding a 30-13 advantage in the all-time series. LSU won both meetings between the two squads last season but, before that, Florida had claimed 26 consecutive meetings in the all-time series.
LSU (13-0, 4-0 SEC) is off to its best start in program history, eclipsing the 12-0 start set by the 1991 team during the Tigers’ second consecutive Final Four run. Overall, LSU continues to rank among the SEC's top two in six of the seven major statistical categories, including occupying the league's top spot in kills per set (14.70), assists per set (13.72), hitting percentage (.288) and opponent hitting percentage (.148).
Angela Bensend and Brittney Johnson are the SEC leaders with 4.56 kills per set and 10.98 assists per set, respectively. Bensend has strung together 10 or more kills in 11 of her 13 matches, including seven straight dating back to September 10. Johnson has fueled LSU's offense to a .338 hitting clip during SEC matches highlighted by three consecutive over .300 performances. Her .343 hitting ratio also is sixth in the SEC. Michele Williams checks in among the SEC's top 10 in three different categories, including hitting percentage (.362 – 4th), kills per set (3.33 – 7th) and blocks per set (1.00 – 9th).
Complete results and a recap of Friday’s match will be available at www.GatorZone.com.
For all of the latest information on Florida volleyball, please log on to www.GatorZone.com/volleyball. Follow Florida Volleyball on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GatorZoneVB and Coach Mary Wise on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GatorMary.
QUICK NOTES
· Florida is ranked No. 2 in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association Top-25 poll, marking the Gators’ highest national ranking since the final poll of 2003. It is the highest Florida has been ranked during the regular season since checking in at No. 2 on Sept. 16, 1997.
· The Gators have played perhaps the nation’s toughest schedule during the 2010 season, facing eight top-25 opponents in their first 10 matches this season. Florida currently boasts a record of 10-1 overall and 3-0 in the Southeastern Conference through its first 11 matches.
· Florida is the nation’s only team to play nine top-25 teams over the course of its first 12 matches.
· The Gators’ 613 wins since 1991 are the most of any team in the nation during that time period.
· The 2010 campaign marks the 27th season of Florida volleyball (beginning 1984). The Gators are 769-168 (.820) all-time in program history.
· The Gators have been successful largely due to their dominant blocking this season, which leads the SEC in all matches combined at 2.82 blocks per set. Florida has three players averaging 0.95 blocks per set or better in Lauren Bledsoe (1.17), Cassandra Anderson (1.12) and Tangerine Wiggs (0.95). The Gators have charted double-figure blocks in eight matches this season, including four of their last five.
· Junior right-side/setter Kelly Murphy is tied for the NCAA Division I lead in triple-doubles this season with four. Murphy has 19 career triple-doubles. Northern Iowa’s Bre Payton is tied with Murphy for the national lead with four triple-doubles this year.
· Murphy currently ranks ninth on Florida’s all-time career assists list with 1,600 dishes. Accomplishing that in just 73 career matches is an impressive feat, considering she has spent all but six matches of her collegiate career in a 6-2 offensive scheme.
