Florida Volleyball Notebook - Aug. 12
Wednesday, August 13, 2008 | Volleyball
Johnson returned to practice for the first time after tearing an anterior cruciate ligament in the team's NCAA regional semifinal match vs. Texas on Dec. 7, 2007 at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
“It has been a long road,” Florida head coach Mary Wise said. “The injury occurred in December and the surgery was a few weeks after that. But, this morning, she was 100 percent completely cleared. If you walk into our gym, you would have no idea that she was coming off an ACL. There's no brace, there's no knee sleeves, all you see is a high-flying, fast Kristina Johnson, who we are thrilled to have back.”
Johnson received the good news early Tuesday morning before the team's first practice. An elated Della Johnson, Kristina's mother, telephoned Wise shortly after to share in the excitement.
“Della and Ken Johnson are such great advocates of our program,” Wise said. “There have been a lot of prayers said for KJ's recovery. I think that for players who have to go through an injury like that, one of the keys to the return is the support from home. There's no better support than Della and Ken.”
Johnson, 6-foot-2, played in 29 of the team's 32 matches last season after a stellar freshman campaign in 2006 that saw her named to the Southeastern Conference all-freshman team with a hitting percentage (.372) that ranked 31st nationally. She is a two-time Academic All-SEC honoree.
The Gators begin their 2008 season by hosting the Aquafina Invitational in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. Florida's first match is set for 7 p.m. on Aug. 29 when the Gators play host to UAB.
GATORS HOLD FIRST DAY OF TWO-A-DAY PRACTICES TUESDAY
Tuesday marked the first day this season that the Gators participated in two-a-day practices, as most days until the start of school on Aug. 25 will feature a morning and an afternoon practice session.
Florida worked primarily on its team offense in its second day of practice, initiating freshmen setters Cindy Bathelt (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Kelly Murphy (Joliet, Ill.) into the squad's offensive scheme.
“A lot of today was about team offense,” Wise said. “Yesterday, we worked a lot on our first contact. Today, we went through the nomenclature with our freshmen setters and worked on play-set timing. It's good news that we're not playing for a few weeks, but this team is learning at such warp speed because there's so much new material for them. I think the attention span and the effort is all really good.”
Wise stressed to her players the importance of rest and recovery to ensure performance at a high level.
Wednesday's two-a-day practices take place at 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at the Lemerand Center.
COMMENTS FROM MARY WISE REGARDING TUESDAY'S PRACTICES
On the return of junior middle blocker Kristina Johnson …
“It has been a long road. The injury occurred in December and the surgery was a few weeks after that. But this morning, she was 100 percent completely cleared. If you walk into our gym, you would have no idea that she was coming off an ACL. There's no brace, there's no knee sleeves, all you see is a high-flying, fast Kristina Johnson who we are thrilled to have back.”
On the phone call she received this morning from Kristina Johnson's mother, Della this morning …
“Della and Ken Johnson are such great advocates of our program. There have been a lot of prayers said for KJ's recovery. I think that for players who have to go through an injury like that, one of the keys to the return is the support from home. There's no better support than Della and Ken.”
On beginning two-a-day practices on Tuesday …
“A lot of today was about team offense. Yesterday, we worked a lot on our first contact. Today, we went through the nomenclature with our freshmen setters and worked on play-set timing. It's good news that we're not playing for a few weeks, but this team is learning at such warp speed because there's so much new material for them. I think the attention span and the effort is all really good.”
REMINDER - FAN DAY ON SUNDAY, AUG. 24
Florida will host its annual Fan Day and Orange and Blue Match on Sunday, Aug. 24 at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. Doors open at 12:30 p.m. with autographs scheduled for 1 p.m. and the scrimmage set for 2 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public with a reminder that only the team poster, which will be provided upon entrance, may be autographed.
