The No. 1/1 University of Florida volleyball team begins a five-match homestand on Friday when it plays host to Auburn as part of Homecoming festivities. Opening serve in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center is slated for 4 p.m. ET and the match will be carried live on GatorVision Online and on WRUF Sports Radio 850 with Tom Collett and Missy Whittemore.
The Gators (14-1, 7-0 Southeastern Conference) are riding a nine-match winning streak that includes a pair of sweeps against Alabama and Mississippi State on the road last weekend. Florida has played arguably the nation’s toughest schedule this season, facing nine ranked foes over their first 12 matches. The Gators have posted an impressive 8-1 record against ranked opponents in 2010.
Florida is No. 1 in both major polls this week, marking just the sixth time in school history the Gators have topped the polls and the first time since Dec. 3, 1996. Florida is 12-1 all-time when playing as the nation’s No. 1 team.
“Auburn is a team that has always played hard,” Florida head coach Mary Wise said. “That’s one of their trademarks. They just play with such great effort and they use a lot of different players. Friday’s match should be a really exciting one. It is the SEC and we are only in a one-game lead in a race that is not quite to the halfway point. There’s a lot of volleyball left ahead of us.”
Florida’s match on Friday one of a number of homecoming activities taking place on campus as it is bookended by the Homecoming Parade in the morning and Gator Growl in the evening. Fans who have purchased a Gator Growl ticket for Friday night can show their ticket at Gate 1 of the O’Connell Center and receive FREE admission.
“I think the perfect scenario on Friday would be to go to the homecoming parade in the morning, grab a bite to eat and head straight to the O’Connell Center for a 4 p.m. match in the air conditioning, and then fans can go get dinner and attend Gator Growl,” Wise said. “I can’t think of a better way to spend homecoming on Friday.”
As a team, the Gators rank first in the Southeastern Conference in both service aces per set (1.80) and blocks per set (2.64). Florida is 17th in the nation in service aces per set and 24th nationally in blocks per set.
Florida is led by junior right-side/setter Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.), who has posted four triple-doubles this season, and ranks tops on the team and 10th in the SEC with 3.15 kills per set on a squad-best .368 hitting efficiency, which ranks fourth in the SEC. Murphy is third in the league in service aces with 0.36 and leads the SEC in conference matches only with 0.50 service aces per set. Murphy also dishes out a squad-best 5.42 assists per set as part of a 6-2 offensive scheme.
Murphy looks to become just the 29th player in school history to reach the 1,000-point plateau for her collegiate career. Through 77 career matches, Murphy has accumulated 993.0 total points (kills, service aces and blocks) and needs just seven more points to reach 1,000.
Junior outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.) and senior outside hitter Callie Rivers (Winter Park, Fla.) follow with 2.44 and 2.15 kills per set, respectively. Senior libero Erin Fleming (Orlando, Fla.) heads the team’s defensive effort and ranks eighth in the SEC with 3.75 digs per set, while freshman setter Chanel Brown (Tempe, Ariz.) has dished out 5.35 assists per set.
Over their past five matches combined, the Gators have averaged 2.19 service aces per set with 35 total service aces during that span. Murphy ranks third in the SEC with 0.36 aces per set, while Rivers is fourth with 0.35 aces per set. Jaeckel is eighth in the conference with 0.27 aces per set, while Fleming is 10th in the league in service aces.
The Gators and Bulldogs meet for the 59th time in the history of the two programs, with the Gators holding a 49-9 advantage in the all-time series. Florida vs. Georgia is the longest-running rivalry in school history, as the two teams have met 58 prior times. UF is 46-1 vs. UGA under the direction of Wise. She has more wins against the Bulldogs than any other opponent.
Georgia enters Sunday’s match in fourth place in the SEC Eastern Division with a 10-9 overall record and a 2-6 league mark. The Bulldogs have lost three consecutive matches and four of their last five contests. They are coming off a 3-0 loss at Ole Miss on Oct. 10.
The Bulldogs are led offensively by freshman outside hitter Brittany Northcutt, who averages a squad-best 2.72 kills per set. Senior middle blocker Valentina Gonzalez follows with 2.61 kills per set and ranks second in the SEC (all matches combined) with a .390 hitting efficiency. Junior setter Kathleen Gates ranks second in the SEC with 10.38 assists per set, while junior libero Carla Tietz is ninth in the SEC with 3.35 digs per set. Junior middle blocker Ann Dylla, who was a high school classmate of Jaeckel’s at Heritage High School in Littleton, Colo., is first on the team and fourth in the SEC with 1.14 blocks per set. As a team, the Bulldogs rank fourth in the SEC in blocks per set with 2.41 in all matches combined.
Complete results and a recap of Friday’s match will be available at 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
- The Gators are ranked No. 1 in the nation for just the sixth time in program history and the first time since the 1996 season, when Florida was ranked No. 1 for five consecutive weeks. UF holds a record of 12-1 all-time when playing as the nation’s top-ranked team.
- Florida head coach Mary Wise, in her 25th season as a collegiate head coach and her 20th directing the Gators, is two wins away from her 700th career victory. Wise is 698-131 (.842) in her 25th season as a Division I head coach, with her first four seasons coming at Iowa State from 1981-84, where she tallied a record of 81-63 (.563). Wise, according to NCAA.com, is the 16th-winningest NCAA Division I volleyball head coaches all time with 698 career wins.
- Florida’s 617 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 773-168 (.821) all-time in program history.
- Florida is the only team in the SEC to have four players ranked among the league’s top-10 in service aces (all matches combined).
- Junior right-side/setter Kelly Murphy looks to become just the 29th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points (kills+service aces+blocks). She currently has 993.0 career points through 77 career matches. Aury Cruz (2000-03) is Florida’s all-time points leader at 2,188.5.
- Murphy currently ranks ninth on Florida’s all-time career assists list with 1,668 dishes. Accomplishing that in just 77 career matches is an impressive feat, considering she has spent all but six matches of her collegiate career setting just three rotations as part of a 6-2 offensive scheme.
- Junior Kristy Jaeckel is just the 20th player in school history to reach 2,000 career attacks and now has 2,061 career attacks through 76 matches.
