Volleyball Travels North for Critical SEC Weekend
Friday, November 14, 2008 | Volleyball
The No. 12/9 Florida volleyball team, riding a three-match winning streak, heads North for a critical weekend in Southeastern Conference play when it travels to Knoxville, Tenn., to face streaking Tennessee on Friday at 7 p.m. and travels to Lexington to face second-place Kentucky on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Friday's match in Thompson-Boling Arena will be carried live on WGGG/WMOP-AM in Gainesville/Ocala, while Sunday's match in Memorial Coliseum will be carried live on WRUF-AM 850.
The Gators (20-2, 14-1 SEC) have eclipsed the 20-win plateau for the 18th consecutive season and will be looking to move closer to winning the SEC title for the 18th straight year. In order to do that, Florida will have to defeat the Lady Vols, who are riding a nine-match winning streak, including six consecutive sweeps, and the Wildcats, who currently are in second place in the SEC East with a 14-2 conference record and took the Gators to five sets earlier this season in Gainesville.
“Tennessee and Kentucky have been travel partners for years and I don't know of a year when we've faced a tougher test from both teams on this trip,” Florida head coach Mary Wise said. “We face the top two blocking teams in the SEC and three of the top four blockers in the conference this weekend as well.”
Florida currently leads the SEC in hitting percentage with a .264 clip, while also ranking second in kills (13.65/set), assists (12.69/set), service aces (1.59/set) and opponent hitting percentage (.157). The Gators will face the top two blocking teams in the league this weekend as Kentucky ranks first in the conference in blocks per set with 2.83, while Tennessee is second with 2.43 blocks per set.
Freshman right-side/setter Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.) leads the way for the Gators, averaging 3.25 kills per set - which ranks seventh in the SEC - and also is second in the league in hitting percentage with a .374 clip. Murphy is tops on the team in assists with 5.74 per set and total points (297.0). Redshirt freshman outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.) follows with 3.22 kills per set, while freshman outside hitter Colleen Ward (Naperville, Ill.) adds 2.31 kills per set.
Junior libero Elyse Cusack (Melrose, Fla.), Florida's all-time career digs leader, currently ranks ninth on the SEC's all-time career digs list with 1,487 career scoops. She ranks third in the SEC in digs per set with 4.56 and is second in service aces with 0.43/set, making her the only player in the league to rank in the top three of those two statistical categories.
The Gators and Lady Vols meet for the 47th time in the history of the two programs with Florida leading the all-time series 38-8, including a 34-3 record under the direction of Wise. The Gators have won five consecutive meetings vs. Tennessee, including a 3-0 decision in Gainesville earlier this season on Oct. 12.
Tennessee (19-8, 12-4 SEC) is currently the hottest team in the SEC, as it is on a nine-match winning streak, including six consecutive three-set sweeps. The streak marks the second longest during UT head coach Rob Patrick's tenure and the fifth-best run in program history. The Lady Vols, who currently are receiving votes in this week's AVCA poll, currently are one of the best defensive teams in the SEC, leading the league in digs with 15.36 scoops per set and ranking second in blocking, averaging 2.43 rejections per set as a team.
Junior Chloe Goodman ranks second in the league in digs per set with 4.71, while middle blocker Alyssa Hilby is the third-best blocker in the conference with 4.56 rejections per set. Nikki Fowler leads the team and ranks fourth in the SEC in kills per set with 3.58.
Complete results and a recap of Friday's match will be available at www.GatorZone.com.
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