Florida Volleyball Notebook - Dec. 26
Saturday, December 27, 2008 | Volleyball
Florida volleyball head coach Mary Wise said, as early as August, that it was the goal of the 2008 edition of the team for the Gators to be playing their best volleyball of the year in December.
As a team, that was perhaps best demonstrated when Florida swept No. 22 Colorado State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament following a three-set loss to the Rams in Fort Collins, Colo., in mid September.
One individual who may have best personified the team's goal of playing its best volleyball as the year went on was freshman middle blocker Cassandra Anderson (Bakersfield, Calif.).
After playing in just one of the team's first six matches in 2008, Anderson saw playing time at Colorado State in the Gators' first loss of the season. Wise had promised fans early in the season that Anderson would be one day be one of the quicker players to ever play volleyball at Florida. Anderson emphatically exhibited that quickness in a dynamic kill on a slide play in Fort Collins.
From that point on, Anderson played in 23 of the team's next 24 matches and finished the season ranked sixth in the Southeastern Conference in blocks per set with 1.01. She became the first Florida freshman to lead her team in blocks since Benavia Jenkins did so in 2000 and made Anderson just the seventh freshman in school history to average more than 1.0 blocks per set.
Anderson emerged as a strong blocking threat for the Gators midway through the SEC season, recording three or more blocks in 13 of her last 17 contests. Beginning with the team's Oct. 12 match vs. Tennessee, Anderson averaged 1.21 blocks per set the remainder of the season.
Anderson played a key role in helping Florida clinch its 18th consecutive SEC title, recording a career-high 10 blocks in a hard-fought five-set win at South Carolina. She became the first Gator to reach double-digit blocks since senior middle blocker Kelsey Bowers (Gainesville, Fla.) accomplished the feat twice during the 2007 season. Anderson also notched a then-career-high seven kills. For that accomplishment, she was named the SEC's Defensive Player of the Week on Dec. 1.
Anderson's breakout offensive match came against Florida A&M in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. She finished with a career-high 10 kills on 11 swings with no errors for a .909 hitting percentage, four blocks and a career-high-tying 12.0 points.
“As a freshman, it's really exciting to play in an NCAA match,” Anderson said in the press conference following the team's first-round victory against Florida A&M. “As the season has gone on, we're prepared to take on anyone.”
Anderson was the nation's fourth-leading hitter over the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, averaging a .684 clip in matches against FAMU and Colorado State. She also recorded a squad-best 1.33 blocks per set during that weekend.
In addition to her team-leading 1.01 blocks per set, Anderson finished the year with a .347 hitting percentage, which ranks second all-time in school history for hitting efficiency by a freshman. She also averaged 1.16 kills per set.
“We haven't had many middles that can perform at her level as a freshman and that is because of her ability to hit around the block,” Wise said. “She can adjust her arm swing based on what the block takes. That's not really taught and, for her to learn how to do that as a freshman, says a lot about the talent she came to us with.”
The talent Anderson came to Florida with can also be attributed to her desire to be a better player. In order to prepare herself for the collegiate game, Anderson decided to switch club teams in high school from Club Jamba, located in the Bakersfield area, where she lived, to elite club TCA in Long Beach, Calif. She made the 2-hour, 20-minute drive (one way) multiple times in a week.
If her first collegiate season is an accurate indication, Anderson's sacrifice has paid off.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
Looking at the 2008 final SEC statistics, it is obvious that there should be some pretty good battles at the net for years to come in the league.
Anderson was one of three freshmen in the SEC to rank in the league's top six in blocks per set. She joined Tennessee's Alyssa Hilby (T1st/1.21 blocks per set) and Kentucky's Becky Pavan (3rd/1.20 blocks per set) as one of the conference's most promising young blockers.
That's an impressive feat considering that blocking can be one of the less refined techniques in a player's repertoire coming in to college.
SEC'S 2008 INDIVIDUAL BLOCKING LEADERS (FINAL)
T1. Britnee Cooper, LSU, Jr., 1.21
T1. Alyssa Hilby, Tennessee, Fr., 1.21
3. Becky Pavan, Kentucky, Fr., 1.20
4. Queen Nzenwa, Kentucky, Sr., 1.12
5. Ashley Newsome, Mississippi State, So., 1.07
6. Cassandra Anderson, Florida, Fr., 1.01
END OF REPORT
