The Gators huddle on the court for the final time in 2017 as Nebraska closed out its national championship win. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)
Once Loss Fades, Wise Will Savor 'Awesome Ride'
Sunday, December 17, 2017 | Volleyball, Scott Carter
The senior class that carried Florida to its first Final Four in 14 years finished with a 110-17 record over the past four seasons.
The unmistakable sounds of triumph.
Meanwhile, Wise had just finished her press conference following Florida's loss in four sets (22-25, 17-25, 25-18, 16-25) to the Cornhuskers and in the shadows of their celebration, took a final moment to reflect on her second trip to the national championship match.
The first came in 2003, her 13th season in charge of UF's volleyball program. Fourteen years later, in a building overrun with Nebraska fans who had little interest in the sentimental storyline of Wise, the all-time winningest female coach in NCAA Division I history, trying to become the first female coach in the sport to raise a national championship trophy, her second Final Four appearance ended the same way.
The Cornhuskers who stepped onto the court had their own storyline in mind. Nebraska fell behind 15-11 in the first set, but from there, dominated to go up 2-0, and after they dropped the third set, then quickly put UF away in the fourth set by opening the frame on a 10-2 run.
The Gators tried to make it a match, but Nebraska had all the answers.
"Their backcourt defense is relentless,'' Wise said. "The margin of error is so thin at this moment. They played at a very high level."
Once Wise offered an explanation of what doomed the Gators on the court, she contemplated the big picture of a season that stretched all the way to the college game's biggest night. She had waited so long to get back here, and had come close so many times, including a pair of Elite Eight losses in 2014 and 2015.
The Gators extended their stay here with a victory over Stanford on Thursday night in the semifinals, setting up Saturday's showdown against a Nebraska team Florida defeated in August at the O'Dome in the second match of the season.
On this night, that long-ago win, plus wins over UCLA and Southern Cal at home a week ago, all seemed a distant memory.
You thrilled us every step of the way.
— NCAA Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) December 17, 2017
Thank you, @GatorsVB. #NCAAVB pic.twitter.com/ytTkaCNtU9
"It will be easier with time removed,'' Wise said. "This one hurts and it stings. We would love to have done a few things differently. But in time, we will be able to look back say, 'what an awesome ride.' "
The Gators (30-2) opened the season with 14 consecutive wins and climbed to No. 1 in the country, a stretch that started on opening weekend when the Gators defeated then-No. 1 Texas and No. 5 Nebraska at home in the VERT Challenge. Following a loss to Southeastern Conference rival Kentucky in mid-October, the Gators reeled off 16 more wins as they exited the team bus outside the Sprint Center on a cool Saturday night and split a red sea of Nebraska fans to get into the building.
Once Saturday's match started, the NCAA-record crowd of 18,516 made it sound like a Cornhuskers home match.
"It is a very tough environment,'' UF senior Carli Snyder said. "The grittiest of teams, in that environment, are going to struggle."
The streak ended Saturday as Nebraska setter Kelly Hunter, named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Volleyball Championship along with teammate Mikaela Foecke, proved how much better the Cornhuskers (32-4) are when she is in the lineup.
Hunter (37 assists, 8 digs, 6 kills) did not play due to an injury when the teams met Aug. 26 and the Gators won in five sets.
"On the biggest stage and on the biggest night, I think she was the best player on the floor,'' Wise said.
The Gators' quest to win the first national title in school history and become the first SEC team to claim an NCAA volleyball championship continues.
Nebraska deserved to win Saturday. Still, this Florida team deserves respect for what it accomplished after getting knocked out of the tournament at home by rival Florida State in the second round in 2016.
"This loss isn't going to define our season. This loss isn't going to define Florida volleyball,'' senior libero Caroline Knop said, who joined the program in 2016 after playing two seasons at Michigan. "So many great things happened this year to have that match be the one we leave with."
Four Florida seniors -- Rhamat Alhassan, Snyder, Shainah Joseph and Lindsey Rogers – finished their collegiate careers with a 110-17 record over the past four seasons. They finally broke through to the Final Four to cap their careers.
They want what they did to be remembered for more, though.
"I just want a chance to celebrate the year we have had. We've had so many amazing moments,'' Snyder said. "That's why you see the three of us crying. There is not a group I would rather go to the very last day with."
Snyder and Alhassan both made the All-Tournament Team, a fitting end for the two players who started their careers as roommates and are now great friends until the end.
"It's so hard to find a team where everyone likes each other,'' Alhassan said. "That's what we had and that's why we enjoyed it so much."
Knop expanded on what this team's lasting identity.
"Our goal from last year to this year was to change the culture, and if we did that, we are going to be so happy leaving this program,'' she said. "If everyone who comes after us works hard and enjoys each other, that will be the biggest win for the three of us. That when somebody from Florida is holding that national championship trophy in a few years, that's going to be us, and that would have been our change."
In the midst of her disappointment at Saturday's outcome, Wise said this team did have a magical chemistry that is difficult to attain. She knows. She's had teams that have it, and others that did not.
Only two of her 27 Florida teams have made it to the Final Four. Wise said what the 2017 Gators accomplished has a lasting quality that hopefully stretches will into the future.
"What you would hope as a coach, when a team goes all in, that they get to reap the benefits, and this group did," she said. "They played in the national championship match. Did it end the way we wanted it to? No. But their legacy will be felt for a really, really long time."
Players Mentioned
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