The No. 2 University of Florida volleyball team wraps up its three-match homestand on Sunday when it plays host to Arkansas. Opening serve in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center is slated for 1:30 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 (11-1, 4-0 Southeastern Conference) are coming off a 3-1 win against No. 16 LSU on Friday night in the O’Connell Center. Florida improved to 8-1 against ranked foes in 2010 with its win against the Tigers, which marked its ninth ranked opponent faced over its first 12 matches.
Against LSU, junior right-side/setter Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.) charted 15 kills on .536 hitting and junior outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.) added 11 kills, while junior middle blocker Cassandra Anderson (Bakersfield, Calif.) turned in eight blocks. The Gators hit .323 on the match, marking the third consecutive match in which Florida has hit better than .300. UF limited LSU to just a .190 hitting percentage, as the Gators have held all but two opponents this season to less than a .200 hitting efficiency.
On the season, Murphy leads the Gators with 3.13 kills per set on a squad-best .371 hitting efficiency, which ranks second in the SEC. Murphy also adds a team-high 5.33 assists per set to go with 2.09 digs per set and 0.70 blocks per set. Jaeckel and senior outside hitter Callie Rivers (Winter Park, Fla.) follow with 2.33 and 2.20 kills per set, respectively.
Three Gators average better than 0.95 blocks per set, led by Anderson’s 1.20 blocks per set. Senior middle blocker Lauren Bledsoe (Long Beach, Calif.) follows with 1.09 blocks per set, while sophomore right-side Tangerine Wiggs (Seattle, Wash.) adds 0.96 blocks per set. Senior libero Erin Fleming (Orlando, Fla.) heads UF’s back-row effort with 3.54 digs per set.
The Gators and Razorbacks meet for the 31st time in the history of the two programs. Florida leads the all-time series 28-2 after first meeting the Razorbacks during the 1994 season when UA added volleyball to its athletics program. From 1995-99, Florida and Arkansas met annually to determine the SEC Tournament title.
Arkansas enters Sunday’s match with a 9-7 overall record, including a 3-2 mark in SEC play. The Razorbacks, who won their first five matches of the season, have won two in a row including a 3-1 victory at South Carolina on Friday night. Against the Gamecocks, three Arkansas players recorded double-figure kills led by sophomore outside hitter Jasmine Norton who charted a double-double with 19 kills and 19 digs.
On the season, Norton leads the way for Arkansas, ranking second in the SEC (all matches combined) with 3.94 kills per set. Junior outside hitter Kelli Stipanovich and sophomore outside hitter Kendall Cleveland follow with 2.24 and 1.90 kills per set, respectively. Freshman libero Brook Fournier averages a squad-best 3.24 digs per set, while sophomore middle blocker Janeliss Torres-Lopez posts a team-high 1.31 blocks per set.
