Coming off an impressive weekend at the prestigious Runza/AVCA Showcase that saw it defeat a pair of top-10 foes, the No. 6/4 University of Florida volleyball team opens its 2010 home slate by playing host to the annual Campus USA Credit Union Invitational at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
The Gators (2-0) will take on Albany at 12:30 p.m. ET Friday, Bowling Green at 7:30 p.m. ET Friday and No. 15/13 Colorado State at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday. Live audio from all matches will be carried on GatorZone.com with the Bowling Green match airing on ROCK 104 (103.7 FM in Gainesville). A combination of Tom Collett, Cory Stephens and Missy Whittemore will call this weekend’s action.
"No matter what the sport, the best time to improve is from your first weekend to your second,” Florida head coach Mary Wise said. “While our results were positive last weekend, we also know that a number of our weaknesses were exposed and we need to see what we can gain from working on those. We haven’t played two matches in one day in a while, but it was by design because we thought this was a group that could benefit from playing as many matches as possible."
Junior right-side/setter Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.) was named the Sports Imports/AVCA Division I National Player of the Week, after averaging 3.00 kills per set on .400 hitting with 5.44 assists per set, 2.00 digs per set and 0.56 blocks per set over the course of last weekend for an average of 3.50 points per set.
Murphy leads the Gators offensively, followed by senior outside hitter Callie Rivers (Winter Park, Fla.) and junior outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.), who average 2.44 and 2.22 kills per set, respectively. Senior libero Erin Fleming (Orlando, Fla.) leads the team’s back-row effort with 2.22 digs per set, while Jaeckel adds 2.22 digs per set.
The Gators out-blocked their first two opponents by a combined 25.0-18.5 margin. Senior middle blocker Lauren Bledsoe (Long Beach, Calif.) leads the Gators with an average of 1.33 blocks per set.
Albany enters the Campus USA Credit Union Invitational with a 2-1 record on the season, defeating Tennessee Tech and Jacksonville before falling to host Clemson last weekend at the Big Orange Volleyball Bash. The Great Danes are coming off a 22-9 record in the 2009 season, having won the America East Conference regular-season title.
Bowling Green visits the Campus USA Credit Union Invitational with a 1-2 record after losing to Michigan State and Evansville, and beating IUPUI at the MSU Showcase last weekend in East Lansing, Mich. The Falcons finished the 2009 campaign with a 13-20 overall record and a 5-11 mark in Mid-American Conference play. Bowling Green features the youngest team in its program history with seven freshmen and four sophomores on the roster.
No. 15 Colorado State begins play in the Campus USA Credit Union Invitational with a 3-0 record. The Rams defeated Duke and Furman this past weekend in the Coors Rocky Mountain Challenge in Fort Collins. Colorado State then beat intra-state rival Colorado, 3-0, on Tuesday in Fort Collins.
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CAMPUS USA CREDIT UNION INVITATIONAL
Friday, September 3
10 a.m. – Bowling Green vs. Colorado State
12:30 p.m. – Florida vs. Albany
5 p.m. – Albany vs. Colorado State
7:30 p.m. – Florida vs. Bowling Green
Saturday, September 4
4 p.m. – Florida vs. Colorado State
6 p.m. – Albany vs. Bowling Green
QUICK NOTES
· The Gators are 22-4 all-time in home openers, including an 18-1 mark under head coach Mary Wise. Florida has won nine consecutive home-opening matches and 18 of the last 19.
· The 2010 campaign will mark the 27th season of Florida volleyball (beginning 1984). The Gators are 761-167 (.820) all-time in program history.
· Florida’s 605 wins since 1991 are the most of any team in the nation during that time period.
· The Gators rocketed to No. 6 in the AVCA Top-25 Coaches Poll on Monday, after beginning the season at No. 13 in the preseason poll. Florida’s ranking was boosted by a pair of wins against top-10 foes in then-No. 9 Iowa State and then-No. 2 Nebraska.
· Junior right-side/setter Kelly Murphy was both the Sports Imports/AVCA Division I National Player of the Year and the SEC Offensive Player of the Week for her efforts at the AVCA Showcase.
· Murphy, along with seniors Lauren Bledsoe and Callie Rivers each were named to the All-Tournament Team of the Runza/AVCA Showcase.
