Volleyball Travels to Oxford To Face Ole Miss
Saturday, September 27, 2008 | Volleyball
The No. 10/10 Florida volleyball team looks to build on the momentum of its three-match Southeastern Conference winning streak when it travels to Oxford, Miss., on Sunday to face Ole Miss. Opening serve between the Gators and Rebels is set for 2:30 p.m. EDT in the Gillom Sports Center and the match will be carried live on ROCK 104 with Tom Collett and GatorVision Online.
The Gators (9-1, 3-0 SEC) are coming off a 3-0 sweep of Arkansas on Friday night in Fayetteville. Florida was led by freshman right-side/setter Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.), who became just the second player in school history to notch a triple double, as she finished with a career-high 15 kills on .619 hitting, 18 assists and a career-high 10 digs. Three Florida players hit better than .500 in the match and three Gators registered double-figure digs in the win.
Redshirt freshman Kristy Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.) leads the way for the Gators, averaging 3.64 kills per set, which ranks fourth in the SEC. Murphy follows with 2.91 kills per set, while freshman outside hitter Colleen Ward (Naperville, Ill.) adds 2.56. Murphy also is seventh in the SEC in hitting percentage with a .335 clip.
Junior libero Elyse Cusack (Melrose, Fla.) heads the team's defensive effort and ranks third in the SEC in digs with 4.26 digs per set. She also is third in the league in service aces with 0.49 per set. Cusack is one of only two players to currently rank in the conference's top 10 in digs and service aces. Cusack now has 1,271 career digs and currently ranks sixth all-time on the school's career digs list.
Two Florida players – junior middle blocker Kristina Johnson (Indianapolis, Ind.) and senior middle blocker Kelsey Bowers (Gainesville, Fla.) – each rank in the league's top 10 in blocks per set. Johnson is fifth in the SEC with 1.06 blocks per set, while Bowers is sixth with 1.04 blocks per set. Bowers has either led or tied for the team lead in blocks in each of the team's last three matches.
The Gators and Rebels meet for the 36th time in school history with Florida holding a 32-3 lead in the all-time series. UF is 26-0 vs. Ole Miss under head coach Mary Wise, as the Rebels are one of six SEC teams that Wise has never lost to during her Florida coaching career.
Ole Miss (6-5, 2-0 SEC) is coming off a 3-1 win against a hot South Carolina team on Friday night. Prior to their loss to the Rebels, the Gamecocks had won 10 consecutive matches. Junior outside hitter Caitlin Weiss led Ole Miss in the victory with a double-double of 15 kills and 10 digs, while freshman outside hitter/middle blocker Katie Norris chipped in 13 kills. Senior setter Rachel Kieckhaefer, the only setter to be named a preseason All-SEC selection in 2008, finished with eight kills on .615 hitting with 38 assists and eight digs.
On the season, Norris leads the Rebels with 3.00 kills per set, while Weiss adds 2.62 kills per set. Kieckhaefer ranks sixth in the SEC in assists per set with 9.18. Freshman Regina Thomas, the SEC Freshman of the Week two weeks ago, is fourth in the league in hitting percentage with a .349 clip.
Complete results and a recap of Sunday's match will be available at www.GatorZone.com.
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