Volleyball Looks to Wrap Up Ninth Perfect Home Season
Friday, November 21, 2008 | Volleyball
The No. 14/12 University of Florida volleyball team looks to wrap up its ninth perfect home season in school history and its first since 2005 when it plays host to Mississippi State and Alabama this weekend in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. The Gators and Bulldogs square off at 7 p.m. EST Friday, while Florida meets the Crimson Tide at 1 p.m. Sunday.
Friday's match will be carried live on GatorVision Online and WRUF-AM 850 with Tom Collett and Missy Whittemore, while Sunday's match also will air live on WRUF and will be televised live by Sun Sports with Larry Vettel and Missy Whittemore.
Fans can print out a 2-for-1 general admission coupon to Friday's match by clicking the graphic on the right side of the GatorZone.com volleyball page. The Gators will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of Florida volleyball between sets two and three, and the first 1,000 fans through the gates will get a free poster commemorating the occasion.
The Gators (21-3, 15-2 Southeastern Conference) are looking to rebound from a 3-2 loss at No. 19 Kentucky this past Sunday. Both teams are fighting to claim the SEC title with two league matches remaining on the Wildcats' schedule and three conference contests left for Florida. Should both teams win out, it would mean the squads would be declared SEC co-champions.
“To be able to control your own destiny with three matches left in the season, I don't think a coach could ask for much more,” Florida head coach Mary Wise said. “We're in a great position that at this late in the season we still have a shot at the title. Our goal has always been to be playing our best volleyball at the end of the season and we're in every position to do that.”
Freshman right-side/setter Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.) leads the way for the Gators, ranking eighth in the SEC in kills per set with 3.27 and second in hitting percentage with a .360 clip. She also leads the team in assists per set (5.65) and total points (328.0). Redshirt freshman outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.) follows with 3.16 kills per set, while freshman outside hitter Colleen Ward (Naperville, Ill.) follows with 2.30 put-downs per set.
Senior middle blocker Kelsey Bowers (Gainesville, Fla.) became just the seventh player in school history to surpass the 400-block mark for her career. She currently ranks seventh on the school's all-time career blocks list with 407 career rejections as a Gator.
Junior libero Elyse Cusack (Melrose, Fla.), Florida's all-time career digs leader, became the first player in school history to eclipse the 1,500-dig mark for her career as she now has 1,529 career scoops to rank seventh on the SEC's all-time top-10 list for career digs. On the season, Cusack is third in the league in digs per set with 4.62 and is second in the league in service aces per set with 0.42. She is the only player in the conference to rank in the SEC's top three in both digs and service aces.
The Gators and Bulldogs meet for the 34th time in the history of the two programs. Florida leads the all-time series 33-0, including a 24-0 mark under the direction of Wise. All but three of UF's 33 wins in the all-time series have come as 3-0 sweeps and the Gators have not dropped a set to MSU since the 2005 campaign.
Mississippi State enters Friday's match with a 6-22 overall record and a 1-16 mark in SEC play. The Bulldogs currently are in fifth place in the league's Western Division, ranking one-half match ahead of Auburn. Mississippi State's 2008 roster, much like Florida's features the largest freshman class in school history with nine newcomers.
Mississippi State is one of the better serving teams in the SEC, especially at home in the Newell-Grissom Building. Sophomore Ashley Newsome ranks fifth in the league in blocks per set with 1.08, while junior setter Dorey Gray is 10th in the league in assists per set with 6.37. Junior outside hitter Ioana Demian directs the squad's offense, averaging 2.99 kills per set.
Complete results and a recap of Friday's match will be available at www.GatorZone.com
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