Florida To Host Competitive Field In NCAA VB Championship
Wednesday, November 30, 2005 | Volleyball
The fourth-ranked and eighth-seeded University of Florida volleyball team will play host to the opening two rounds of the 2005 NCAA Championship on Thursday and Friday at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
In the opening contest of the event, Florida A&M (22-5) will face No. 24 Kansas State (20-10) at 5 p.m. Thursday with the Gators (30-2) set to battle Florida Atlantic (29-2) at 7:30 p.m. The winners of the two matches will compete on Friday at 7 p.m. for the right to advance to the Omaha Regional Dec. 9-10.
The event brings together a wealth of talented teams and players. Florida captured the program's 15th consecutive Southeastern Conference title and 12th SEC Tournament title in 2005, while Florida Atlantic claimed the Atlantic Sun Conference crown with Florida A&M capturing the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference title. K-State finished fourth in the highly competitive Big 12, which sent the most teams of any conference in the nation into the championship field.
The event will also feature three conference players of the year as Florida's Jane Collymore (4.53 k/g), FAMU's Adriana Kostadinova (4.53 k/g) and FAU's Kelly Paiva (5.97 k/g - 2nd in the nation) each claimed the honor.
Each of the squads is a veteran of NCAA appearances as the 2005 event marks Florida's 15th straight berth, while K-State has made the tournament 10 consecutive seasons with Florida A&M chiming in with five straight appearances and Florida Atlantic making its third championship.
All of Florida's and K-State's matches will be available live via the internet. Florida's contests can be found at www.GatorZone.com and will be broadcast on WRUF-AM 850, while K-State's can be found at www.1350kman.com and will be carried by 1350 KMAN.
Live statistics will also be available at www.GatorZone.com.
Ticket Information:
All-Session Pass
$10.00 adults
$6.00 students and senior citizens
$4.00 children 12 and under
Single-Session Pass
$7.00 adults
$5.00 students and senior citizens
$4.00 children 12 and under
For more information, contact the UAA Ticket Office at (352) 375-4683, ext. 6800 or 1-800-34GATOR, ext. 6800 (state of Florida only)
