Florida Volleyball Notebook: Oct. 29
Wednesday, October 29, 2008 | Volleyball
Junior Florida libero Elyse Cusack (Melrose, Fla.), the reigning Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Week, is closing in on an important milestone, as she is just six digs away from becoming the school's all-time leader in career digs.
Since joining the Gators prior to the 2006 season, Cusack has redefined the libero position at Florida. In less than three full seasons, she has accumulated 1,439 digs and holds the school's top two spots on the single-season digs per game list, ranking first with her 5.52 digs per game in 2006 and ranking second with her 5.39 digs per game in 2007.
During the 2008 season, Cusack has rocketed up the school's career digs list. After beginning the season at 10th place all-time on the list with 1,122 digs, Cusack has tallied 317 digs through 19 matches so far this season to rank second all-time. The current record of 1,444 digs was set by Lyra Vance in 1987.
In her sophomore season of 2006, Cusack became the fastest player in school history to reach the 1,000-dig plateau, needing just 56 matches to do so. She is just one of two players in SEC history to have eclipsed the 1,000-dig mark as just a sophomore. As a freshman in 2006, Cusack was named the SEC's Defensive Player of the Year.
MILESTONE DIGS FOR CUSACK
500 – vs. Arizona State (Dec. 1, 2006 – NCAA Second Round)
750 – at LSU (Sept. 23, 2007)
1,000 – vs. Mississippi State (Nov. 18, 2007 – Fastest To Reach 1,000 in School History)
1,250 – vs. LSU (Sept. 19, 2008)
1,321 – at Mississippi State (Oct. 5, 2008 – Surpasses Aury Cruz; Moves into 5th All-Time)
1,400 – at LSU (Oct. 24, 2008 – Moves into sole possession of 2nd All-Time)
FLORIDA'S ALL-TIME CAREER DIGS LIST
1. Lyra Vance (1984-87) - 1,444
2. Elyse Cusack (2006-Present) - 1,439
3. Marcie Hampton (2004-07) - 1,384
4. Rachel Engel (2002-05) - 1,372
5. Roni Armeda (1986-89) - 1,354
6. Aury Cruz (2000-03) - 1,320
7. Jenny Manz (1996-99) - 1,202
8. Meg Fitzgerald (1992-95) - 1,171
9. Jenni Keene (1994, 1996-98) - 1,142
10. Jane Collymore (2002-05) - 1,131
CUSACK'S TOP CAREER MATCHES (TOTAL DIGS)
46 – vs. LSU (Nov. 3, 2006)
38 – at Georgia (Oct. 26, 2008)
29 – at Alabama (Sept. 30, 2007)
28 – at Long Beach State (Nov. 24, 2007)
WISE GOES FOR CAREER WIN 650 ON FRIDAY NIGHT
Florida head coach Mary Wise will go for her 650th career victory on Friday night when the Gators square off with Ole Miss at 7 p.m. ET in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
Wise has compiled a 568-59 (.906) record during her 18-year tenure at the University of Florida and was 81-63 (.563) in four seasons as the head coach at Iowa State University.
Wise's Gators have compiled more wins since 1991 than any other Division I program in the nation during that stretch.
MILESTONE CAREER WINS FOR WISE
1 – Sept. 9, 1981 – Iowa State at Northern Iowa (W, 3-2)
50 – Sept. 30, 1983 – Iowa State vs. Wichita State (W, 3-0)
100 – Oct. 20, 1991 – Florida at Georgia (W, 3-0)
500 – Oct. 31, 2003 – Florida at Tennessee (W, 3-0)
FLORIDA HAS RPI RATING OF 8TH
The Florida volleyball team has a Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) of eighth in the nation this week, the NCAA announced on Monday. Stanford (17-3) currently has the top RPI in the country, followed by Nebraska (20-0) and Penn State (22-0).
Evidence of the Gators' difficult schedule this season is shown by the fact that five of Florida's opponents so far this season rank in the nation's top 50 in RPI. Colorado State is 11th, followed by UAB (27th), Kentucky (32nd), Long Beach State (34th) and LSU (12-7). Florida is 5-1 this season vs. teams ranked in the top 50 of the RPI ratings.
RPI TOP 10 (AS OF OCT. 27)
1. Stanford (17-3)
2. Nebraska (20-0)
3. Penn State (22-0)
4. Texas (16-2)
5. Minnesota (18-4)
6. Illinois (16-5)
7. California (18-2)
8. Florida (17-2)
9. Purdue (17-5)
10. St. Louis (19-4)
FLORIDA OPPONENTS IN THE RPI TOP 50 (AS OF OCT. 27)
11. Colorado State (18-2)
27. UAB (20-3)
32. Kentucky (20-3)
34. Long Beach State (18-4)
35. LSU (12-7)
END OF REPORT
