The No. 1 University of Florida volleyball team will square off with 16th-seeded Purdue in the NCAA Regional Semifinals on Friday at 6 p.m. ET live on Sun Sports. Here’s a quick look at the Gators heading into Friday’s match-up:
TOURNAMENT REPORT
· Florida has earned the program’s first-ever No. 1 seed to the NCAA Tournament.
· The Gators are 53-20 (.726) all-time in the NCAA Championship, including a 52-19 (.733) mark under the direction of head coach Mary Wise.
· Including the 2010 season, UF has made 20 consecutive and 21 overall NCAA Championship appearances (1987, 1991-2010).
· The Gators have advanced to regional action in 19 of head coach Mary Wise’s 20 seasons and have reached the national semifinal seven times in the last 19 years, the last coming in the 2003 season when Florida finished as the NCAA runner-up.
· UF is 12-6 all-time in NCAA Regional Semifinal matches and 7-5 in Regional Finals.
· Florida players have earned 35 NCAA All-Region Team honors, including five MVP selections. Elyse Cusack was named All-Gainesville Region in 2009.
· The Gators served as hosts for NCAA First and Second Round action for the 19th time in the last 20 years.
· Sixteen of Florida’s 28 matches during the 2010 regular season came against 2010 NCAA Tournament teams. The Gators recorded 15 regular-season wins against teams in the NCAA field.
· Florida was one of six Southeastern Conference teams to be awarded a bid to the NCAA Tournament. Tennessee earned the No. 11 national seed, while Auburn, Kentucky, LSU and Ole Miss also made the tournament field. That is one team shy of the SEC-record seven teams that made the NCAA field in 2006.
· In addition to Florida’s SEC foes making the NCAA Tournament, seven other teams from the Gators’ 2010 schedule qualified for the Big Dance, including Albany, Colorado State, Florida State, Iowa State, Nebraska, Penn State and Texas.
STREAKS AND TRENDS
· The Gators have won 24 consecutive matches, dating back to a 3-2 win against then-No. 5 Texas on Sept. 11. It marks the eighth-longest winning streak in program history and is the longest win streak since the Gators won 36 straight matches in 2003.
· Florida extended the nation’s longest streak of consecutive 25-win seasons to 20 on Nov. 19 when the Gators defeated Arkansas 3-1.
· The Gators became the first team in Southeastern Conference history to post a 20-0 league record since a 20-match double round-robin format was instituted prior to the 2006 season. It marked the 12th perfect league season in school history and Florida's first since 2003.
· Florida has hit .300 or better as a team in 16 matches this season, including .400 or better on five occasions. The Gators’ recorded a season-high .586 hitting efficiency in the team’s NCAA First Round win vs. South Carolina State, which marked the second-highest hitting percentage in school history.
· The Gators have limited their opponents to under a .100 hitting efficiency in nine instances in 2010. Florida held South Carolina State to a -.042 hitting efficiency on Dec. 3. Just six foes have hit better than .200 against the Gators this year and no opponent has hit .300 or better vs. Florida.
· Florida has totaled double-figure blocks in 16 matches this season, including seven of its last nine. The Gators' longest streak of consecutive 10-plus block matches this season came from Sept. 11-Sept. 22, when Florida had double-figure blocks in four matches in a row. The Gators' season-high in blocks came on Nov. 7 against Auburn with 17 rejections (a five-set match), while Florida had 15.0 blocks in a three-set victory against South Carolina on Nov. 22 in Columbia.
· The Gators have out-blocked their opponents in 24 of 30 matches this season and are a perfect 24-0 when winning the blocking battle. Florida has out-blocked 12 consecutive opponents dating back to an Oct. 24 meeting with Kentucky.
· Florida has tallied double-figure service aces on two occasions in 2010, including a season-high 12 aces against Arkansas on Oct. 3. That match was powered by a career-high eight aces from junior right-side/setter Kelly Muphy.
· The Gators are a perfect 4-0 this season in five-set matches, including thrilling five-set victory against Florida State in the NCAA Second Round.
· Kelly Murphy, the 2010 SEC Player of the Year, has charted seven triple-doubles this season, including three in three-set matches. She also has tallied 23 double-doubles this year, including double-dips in 15 of her last 17 matches.
· Murphy became just the 17th player in school history to reach 1,000 career kills. Murphy now has 1,004 career kills, which ranks 16th all-time in school history, surpassing Jenni Keene (1994, 1996-98), who tallied 1,000 kills during her Florida playing days.
· Murphy looks to become the ninth player in program history to reach 2,000 career assists - an impressive feat considering she has spent all but six matches of her collegiate career setting just three rotations as part of the team’s 6-2 offensive scheme. Murphy currently has 1,962 career assists, which ranks ninth in school history in that category.
· Chanel Brown, a member of the SEC All-Freshman Team, has recorded double-figure assists in each of the team’s 30 matches this season and has eclipsed the 20-assist mark in 13 contests. Brown’s season high in assists (35) came against Florida State on Dec. 4. She has bested the 30-assist mark twice.
· Junior middle blocker Cassandra Anderson, who leads the SEC in blocks per set with 1.28, has charted five or more blocks in 13 matches this season and has led the Gators in blocks in 14 instances this year. Anderson charted a career-high 12 blocks vs. Florida State on Dec. 4, which marked the most blocks in an NCAA Tournament match in school history. It also was the most blocks by a Florida player since former Gator Kelsey Bowers totaled 11 blocks against Arizona State in the NCAA Second Round on Dec. 1, 2006.
· Anderson is just the 18th player in school history to record 300 career blocks. Anderson has 340 total rejections, which ranks 16th all-time in school history. She needs three more blocks to tie Nina Foster for 13th place all-time in school history. Foster talled 343 blocks during her playing days from 1996-97.
· Senior outside hitter Callie Rivers, a 2010 All-SEC First Team selection, has tallied double-figure kills in 10 matches this season, including a career-high 21 kills at LSU on Nov. 21 in Baton Rouge.
· Junior outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel has totaled double-figure kills 12 times in 2010, including four of her last seven matches. Jaeckel ranks 14th all-time in school history in career attacks with 2,420. The school’s all-time career attacks leader is Marcie Hampton with 4,204 swings from 2004-07.
NOTES FROM OUR FIRST-ROUND MATCH
· Florida defeated South Carolina State, 3-0 (25-7, 25-10, 25-12) to improve to 14-0 all-time in NCAA First Round matches.
· The win took 1 hour and two minutes, which tied for the second shortest NCAA Tournament match in program history. It was second only to the Gators’ 55-minute postseason contest against Liberty on Dec. 2, 1999.
· Florida’s .586 team hitting efficiency was the second-highest hitting percentage in a single match in school history. The Gators’ school record for hitting percentage was a .603 clip that came against Auburn on Sept. 28, 2003. Florida hit better than .550 in a single match for just the fourth time in program history.
· The Gators broke their single-match NCAA Tournament school-record hitting efficiency mark in a first-round match for the third consecutive year.
· Florida improved to 8-0 all-time vs. members in the current alignment of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
· Junior right-side/setter Kelly Murphy charted a team-high eight kills on .700 hitting with 17 assists, two service aces and four digs for a match-high 10.0 total points.
NOTES FROM OUR SECOND-ROUND MATCH
· Florida escaped the NCAA Second Round with a thrilling 3-2 (20-25, 25-22, 22-25, 25-21, 17-15) victory against Florida State to improve to 18-2 all-time in NCAA Second Round matches.
· The match took 2 hours and 24 minutes, marking the longest NCAA Tournament match in program history.
· Florida advanced to its 19th NCAA Regional Semifinal in the past 20 years.
· The Gators notched their 20th consecutive victory in the all-time series with FSU.
· Florida improved to 113-20 all-time vs. in-state competition, including a 64-2 mark vs. Sunshine State foes under the direction of head coach Mary Wise.
· UF’s 16.5 total blocks marked its fifth-most in an NCAA Tournament match in school history.
· Junior right-side/setter Kelly Murphy eclipsed the 1,000-kill plateau for her collegiate career, becoming just the 17th player in program history to reach that milestone.
· Murphy finished with her seventh triple-double of the season and her 22nd career triple-dip with a match-high 19 kills on .385 hitting with 21 assists and 12 digs. She now has 1,004 career kills, which ranks 16th all-time in program history.
· Junior middle blocker Cassandra Anderson totaled a career-high 12 blocks in the match, which also was a Florida NCAA Tournament record. It marked the most blocks by a UF player in a single match since former Gator Kelsey Bowers totaled 11 blocks against Arizona State in the NCAA Second Round on Dec. 1, 2006. It was the first time this season and the third time in her career that Anderson tallied double-figure block totals. She also came up with a career-high eight digs in the contest.
· Senior outside hitter Callie Rivers, who struggled offensively, posted a career-high 18 digs. She also charted a career-high seven blocks to finish with 13.5 total points.
· Freshman setter Chanel Brown dished out a career-high 35 assists, bettering her previous personal record of 31 set against Nebraska on Aug. 29, 2010, and marking the second time in her career that she has eclipsed the 30-assist plateau.
· Senior libero Erin Fleming posted a team-high 20 digs, marking the fifth time this season that she has recorded 20 or more digs in a single match.
· Junior outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel finished with 18 kills and 12 digs for 19.5 total points, marking her third double-double of the season and the 15th double-dip of her career. She had the final two kills in the match to give Florida a 17-15 fifth-set victory.
· Senior middle blocker Lauren Bledsoe hit .391 in the match, marking her ninth consecutive contest hitting better than .300.
