Gators Notebook: Knop Plays On, Wise Sets Stage, more tidbits

Florida libero Caroline Knop at practice on Wednesday at the Sprint Center in Kansas City. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)

Gators Notebook: Knop Plays On, Wise Sets Stage, more tidbits

Wednesday, December 13, 2017 | Volleyball, Scott Carter

The UF volleyball team faces Stanford on Thursday night for a berth in the national championship.

By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Senior libero Caroline Knop took the court Wednesday afternoon here at the Sprint Center sporting her trademark bandana.

Due to necessity, Knop has added a protective hand wrap to her game attire.

Knop suffered a broken bone in her right hand on Nov. 10 at home against Arkansas. Knop was injured in the first set of Florida's win over the Razorbacks and stayed in the game. However, X-rays afterward revealed the break and forced Knop, a senior in her second season with the Gators after she spent her first two years at Michigan, to wear the bulky wrap if she wanted to continue her season.

"It didn't hinder me then and it's not going to hinder me now,'' Knop said. "There's just no way I wasn't going to play."

Knop's ability to play through the injury is a key factor in Florida's first trip to the Final Four since 2003. The No. 2-seed Gators (29-1) face No. 3 Stanford (30-3) on Thursday (8 p.m. on ESPN) in the national semifinals. The winner faces the Penn State-Nebraska winner on Saturday for the national championship.

48220 — Caroline Knop, second from right, on the bench with her teammates at Wednesday's practice. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)

Knop had 18 digs in Florida's Sweet 16 win over UCLA and in Saturday's five-set victory over a powerful Southern Cal team in the Elite Eight, Knop registered 23 digs to help the Gators outlast USC's hard-hitting front line led by sophomore Khalia Lanier, who finished with a game-high 26 kills.

Knop's 23 digs were her most since the season-high 25 she recorded in the win over Arkansas in which she was injured. While she is still not 100 percent and must play with the protective wrap, Knop never contemplated the injury ending her season.

"I was going to be here and I was going to be available,'' Knop said. "It's such an easy decision to be here and to play in such a critical moment for this program. We've worked so hard to get here.

"It's been a little bit of a burden, but we have found ways to work through it and get past it. I get more and more comfortable every day with the device that I'm using."

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FINAL PREP

Gators head coach Mary Wise is making her eighth appearance in the Final Four in her 27 seasons. Associate head coach Dave Boos also has Final Four experience as an assistant at Minnesota.

Knop, who is from Pasadena, Calif., has never played in the Final Four but went as a fan in 2013 when Penn State defeated Wisconsin for the national title in Seattle.

"It was an incredible atmosphere," Knop said. "It's quite different. It will be nothing like the O'Dome this past weekend, but it's a very unique experience and a very fun one."

Wise and Boos have worked to make sure the Gators enjoy the experience but to understand that once they take the court that it's going to be, well, like Knop said, different.

"She definitely said it's like nothing you're ever going to play in,'' sophomore Rachael Kramer said. "You are going to be in the gym and there's going to be people that just don't clap for any team. It's going to be one of the quietest-loudest crowds you're ever going to have."

The event is sold out and more than 18,000 fans are expected, many of them volleyball coaches and enthusiasts from around the country in town for coaching clinics and other events connected to the Final Four.

"It's not going to have the energy that Exactech Arena had, nothing close,'' Wise said. "We did address that. We went into detail about what to expect and how we're going to be able to handle it. The plan was to keep our routine as close to normal as possible in terms of what we do on the road and how we practice."

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PLAYING PLUMMER

The Gators have a tall task in defending Stanford sophomore outside hitter Kathryn Plummer.

The 6-foot-6 Plummer was named a first-team All-American on Wednesday along with Gators senior middle blocker Rhamat Alhassan. She was named Pac-12 Player of the Year and is averaging 5.48 points and 4.73 kills per set.

Wise drew on her past trips to the Final Four in describing Plummer.

"We played players that went on to be Olympians and be named some of the best players in the history of NCAA volleyball,'' she said. "We see Kathryn Plummer as being that type of player."

UF senior Carli Snyder has seen enough of Plummer to get the message.

"She's a very dominant player because she has the ability to kill the ball from everywhere on the floor and in imperfect situations,'' Snyder said. "That is something we have to keep on our radar. She's going to clean up a lot of messes for them."

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GATORS PRESS CONFERENCE

Wise, Alhassan, Knop and Snyder attended a press conference at the Sprint Center on Thursday prior to Florida's open practice. You can watch the press conference in its entirety below:

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QUOTE OF NOTE

"Florida is going to be a very physical, very good blocking team, a very good defensive team. From a match-up standpoint, there are not a lot of teams that can match us, and it will be interesting to see how that plays out and how the matches play out." – Stanford coach Kevin Hambly, in his first season at Stanford after eight seasons as head coach at Illinois

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ODDS AND ENDS

Florida is 4-6 all-time against Stanford, including 0-3 in the NCAA Tournament … The Gators' last victory over the Cardinal was in 2013 at the Nike Volleyball Big Four Classic in Austin, Texas … Florida enters on a season-best 15-game win streak … Stanford has won nine in a row since a 3-1 loss at Washington on Nov. 8.