Gators Conclude Four-Match Road Swing in Magnolia State
Saturday, October 4, 2008 | Volleyball
The No. 10/10 Florida volleyball team concludes its four-match Southeastern Conference road swing on Sunday when it travels to the Magnolia State to face Mississippi State. Opening serve between the Gators and Bulldogs is slated for 2:30 p.m. EDT in the Newell-Grissom Building and the match will be carried live on WRUF AM-850.
The Gators (11-1, 5-0 SEC) are coming off a hard-fought four-set victory against Alabama on Friday evening in Tuscaloosa. Three Florida players tallied 14 kills apiece and freshman right-side/setter Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.), the reigning Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week, charted her second triple-double in the last three matches with 14 kills, a career-high 35 assists and a career-high 15 digs. Sophomore middle blocker/right-side Lauren Bledsoe (Long Beach, Calif.) tallied a career-high 14 kills, while redshirt freshman outside hitter/right-side Kristy Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.) also added 14 put-downs.
Jaeckel leads the way for the Gators, averaging 3.67 kills per set, which ranks fourth in the SEC. Murphy and freshman outside hitter Colleen Ward (Naperville, Ill.) follow with 3.00 and 2.53 kills per set, respectively. Senior middle blocker Kelsey Bowers (Gainesville, Fla.) leads the team's blocking efforts, averaging 0.97 rejections per set, while junior libero Elyse Cusack (Melrose, Fla.) ranks third in the league in digs with 4.44 per set. Cusack needs just seven more digs to tie former All-American Aury Cruz for fifth place on the school's all-time digs list.
As a team, Florida leads the SEC in both kills per set (13.88) and assists per set (13.09).
The Gators and Bulldogs meet for the 33rd time in program history with Florida leading the all-time series 32-0, including a 23-0 mark under head coach Mary Wise. All but three of Florida's wins in the all-time series have come as 3-0 sweeps for the Gators. UF last dropped a set to Mississippi State during the 2005 campaign.
Mississippi State (6-9, 1-3 SEC) is coming off a three-set loss to South Carolina last night in Starkville. Junior outside hitter Ioana Demian recorded a team-high 10 kills, while junior setter/defensive specialist Dorey Gray finished with 22 assists and a match-high 15 digs.
Sophomore middle blocker Ashley Newsome is one of the SEC's top blockers, ranking fifth in the league in rejections with 1.05 per set. Demian is the squad's kill leader, averaging 2.82 put-downs per set. She also ranks tied for ninth in the league in service aces with 0.31 per set. As a team, the Bulldogs rank second in the SEC in service aces per set with 1.71 per set.
Complete results and a recap of Sunday's match will be available at www.GatorZone.com.
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