Volleyball Hosts Alabama on Senior Day Sunday
Sunday, November 23, 2008 | Volleyball
The No. 14/12 Florida volleyball team will honor seniors Kelsey Bowers (Gainesville, Fla.) and Christina Diaz (Hollywood, Fla.) on Sunday when it plays host to Alabama in the final regular-season home match of the 2008 campaign. Opening serve is slated for 1 p.m. EST and the match will be carried live on Sun Sports with Larry Vettel and Missy Whittemore, and on WGGG/WMOP-AM with Tom Collett.
The Gators (22-3, 16-2 Southeastern Conference) are coming off a 3-0 sweep of Mississippi State on Friday night in a match in which Florida's three outside hitters – Kristy Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.), Callie Rivers (Winter Park, Fla.) and Colleen Ward (Naperville, Ill.) – combined for nearly half of the team's kills. UF is looking to wrap up its ninth perfect home season in school history, as the Gators are 13-0 at home so far this season. Florida has not gone undefeated at home since the 2005 campaign.
Florida is led by freshman right-side/setter Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.), who ranks eighth in the SEC in kills per set with 3.25 and also is second in the league in hitting percentage with a .358 clip. Murphy also leads the team in assists with 5.64 dishes per set as part of a 6-2 offensive scheme. Jaeckel follows with 3.15 kills per set, while Ward adds 2.31 kills per set.
Junior libero Elyse Cusack (Melrose, Fla.), the school's all-time digs leader and the only person in school history to eclipse the 1,500-dig milestone, heads the team's defensive effort, averaging 4.63 digs per set, which ranks third in the SEC. She also is tied for second in the league in service aces per set with 0.41, making her the only player in the conference to rank in the top three in both digs and service aces.
The Gators and Crimson Tide meet for the 30th time in the history of the two programs with Florida leading the all-time series 29-0, including a 27-0 mark under the direction of Wise. Twenty-five of UF's 29 victories against Alabama have come in the form of 3-0 sweeps.
Alabama enters Sunday's match with a 15-12 overall record, including an 8-10 mark in SEC play. The Crimson Tide dropped a 3-0 decision at South Carolina on Friday night, but have won five of their last seven matches, including three of their last four. Senior Brooks Webster is one of the premier outside hitters in the SEC, ranking first in the league in kills per set with 4.07. Alabama is the top serving team in the SEC, averaging a league-leading 1.61 service aces per set. Sophomore defensive specialist Mary Catherine Aune is the SEC's top server, averaging 0.49 aces per set.
The senior-day presentation for Bowers, Diaz and student manager Lance Burbank will take place following the match.
Complete results and a recap of Sunday's match will be available at www.GatorZone.com.
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