VB Selected To NCAA Championship, Will Play At FAMU Friday
Monday, November 29, 2004 | Volleyball
The No. 12-ranked Florida volleyball team received its 14th consecutive bid to the NCAA Championship and will travel to Tallahassee to face No. 22 Florida A&M in a first round match slated for 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 3 at Gaither Gym.
The occasion marks the first time in any of Florida's 15 NCAA Championship berths that the Gators will not host at least one match in Gainesville. Florida had previously hosted at least the first or second round in each of the last 13 seasons.
"It's equally disappointing and surprising that we are not hosting after being 27-4 with three of our four losses to teams in the top 10," Florida coach Mary Wise said. "Now we'll go forward and look toward playing Florida A&M. It was no surprise that we're going to play Florida A&M, but playing in Tallahassee is a surprise."
Florida faced the Rattlers (28-2) in the first round of the NCAA Championship in 2001 and defeated Florida A&M 3-0. The Gators also played the Rattlers during the 2003 season in a 3-0 victory in Gainesville. All-time, Florida is 5-0 against Florida A&M with three of the five meetings coming prior to 1989.
"We played Florida A&M during the spring," Wise said. "They're a veteran team and an international team. They're a tough matchup for us because of what they do."
Should the Gators advance to the second round, Florida would face the winner of No. 11 seed Stanford (24-6) and Jacksonville (15-12), who will play at 5 p.m. on Friday. The winners will square off on Saturday at 7 p.m. Should the Gators advance to the region semifinals, Florida would play in Green Bay, Wisc. Dec. 10-11. The national semifinals will be held in Long Beach, Calif., on Dec. 16 with the 2004 championship match slated for Dec. 18.
For more information, log-on to www.thefamurattlers.com. Fans can also call the Florida A&M ticket office at (800) 843-0788 or (850) 599-3141.
Florida's match against Florida A&M will be carried live on WRUF-AM 850 and www.GatorZone.com Should the Gators advance to the second round, that match will also be carried live by both.
