Volleyball To Host LSU in SEC-TV Match of the Week
Saturday, September 20, 2008 | Volleyball
Following an impressive 3-0 sweep of Georgia on Friday night, the No. 11/11 Florida volleyball team returns to action on Sunday when it plays host to LSU in the SEC-TV Match of the Week. Opening serve in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center is slated for 1 p.m. EDT and the match will be carried live on SEC-TV (Sun Sports within the state of Florida) and WRUF AM-850.
Admission to Sunday's match is $4 for adults and free for youth 17 and under, as well as UF students who present a valid student ID. UF students will have a chance to sign up to win prizes courtesy of Pepsi, while one student will walk away with a cooler full of Pepsi products. The match also features the Gator Kids Corner with inflatable games and much more.
The Gators (7-1, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) are coming off their 18th consecutive win in an SEC opener with their victory against the Bulldogs on Friday. Three Florida players – Kristy Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.), Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.) and Colleen Ward (Naperville, Ill.) – each recorded nine or more kills and charted 13.5 points apiece in that match to lead the Gators to one of their most balanced victories of the season.
“In LSU, we will play against the best libero we will face all year in Elena Martinez,” Florida head coach Mary Wise said. “Balls that might have gone for kills earlier in the season won't go for kills against LSU. They also have one of the most dynamic outside hitters in the country in Kyna Washington. There's a reason they have at least three players for All-America consideration. There isn't a team in this league without a great player and if you have more than one great player, then you're really good and that's what LSU is.”
Jaeckel leads the way for the Florida offense, averaging 3.50 kills per set, which ranks fourth in the SEC. She also ranks tied for seventh in the league in service aces with 0.36 per set, which makes her one of only two players in the conference (LSU's Kyna Washington being the other) to rank in the SEC's top 10 in both kills and aces. Murphy follows with 2.75 kills per set and ranks eighth in the SEC with a .327 hitting percentage. Murphy also ranks 10th in the league in assists per set with 5.75 and is the only player to rank in the SEC's top 10 in those two statistical category. Ward adds 2.56 kills per set.
Junior libero Elyse Cusack (Melrose, Fla.) heads the team's defensive effort, averaging 4.07 digs per set, which ranks third in the SEC, and she also ranks third in the league in service aces with 0.54 per set. Junior middle blocker Kristina Johnson (Indianapolis, Ind.) is fourth in the SEC in blocks with 1.16 rejections per set.
The Gators and Tigers meet for the 40th time in the history of the two programs with Florida holding a 28-11 advantage in the all-time series. UF has claimed 24 consecutive meetings with LSU, dating back to the 1992 campaign and has not dropped a match to the Bayou Bengals since the 1991 campaign, Wise's first season in Gainesville. Eighteen of Florida's 28 wins in the all-time series have come as 3-0 sweeps.
LSU enters Sunday's match with a 5-3 overall record after dropping its league opener to South Carolina, 3-0 (14-25, 24-26, 19-25), on Friday night in Columbia. Washington, a senior outside hitter, is the Tigers' kill leader, averaging 3.45 put-downs per set, which ranks fifth in the SEC. She also ranks fifth in service aces with 0.41 winners per set. Senior libero Elena Martinez, one of the conference's top defensive players, ranks fourth in the SEC in digs per set with 4.00.
Complete results and a recap of Sunday's match will be available at www.GatorZone.com.
