Volleyball Faces Jacksonville for First Time Since 2005
Thursday, September 4, 2008 | Volleyball
The No. 8/9 University of Florida volleyball team will continue its homestand this weekend when it plays host to the Campus USA Credit Union Invitational in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. The Gators play host to in-state foe Jacksonville for the first time since the 2005 season when the two teams square off at 7 p.m. Friday. UF will then play host to No. 23/17 Long Beach State at 5 p.m. Saturday.
Friday's match will be aired live on WRUF-AM 850 and GatorVision Online, while live audio for Saturday's match will be available at www.GatorZone.com. Live statistics for both matches will be available at www.GatorZone.com.
Free admission coupons to Friday's match have been distributed in the Campus USA Credit Union newsletter and at all Campus USA branches. The coupon also can be found at www.campuscu.com. The first 500 kids, 12 and under, to Friday's match will receive a Gator “Back to School” package courtesy of Publix. All fans earn free admission to Saturday's match by presenting their Florida-Miami football tickets.
“What a great job Jacksonville's staff has done,” UF head coach Mary Wise said. “We haven't played them since 2005 and [JU head coach] Shawn [Kupferberg] has really done a nice job with their program. I think what we're going to find is that playing Jacksonville is going to help us in November when the bids come out becaue their RPI is going to be so high with all the wins they are going to have in league. We're spending a lot of time on Jacksonville because of our youth and because they're so much better than when we played them in '05.”
Florida (2-0) is coming off a pair of wins against UAB and Pacific this past weekend in the Aquafina Invitational. Redshirt freshman Kristy Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.) is the reigning Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week and the Most Valuable Player of the Aquafina Invitational after averaging 3.86 kills per set, a .345 hitting percentage and 4.78 points per set. She became the first Florida freshman to earn MVP honors at a regular-season tournament since former All-America selection Aury Cruz was named the MVP of the Florida Volleyball Conference Challenge in 2000.
Jackel ranks in the top 10 in two of the SEC's statistical categories, ranking second in the conference in kills per set with 3.86 and ranking tied for seventh in hitting percentage with a .345 clip.
Junior libero Elyse Cusack (Melrose, Fla.) and freshman right-side hitter/setter Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.) also were named to the All-Tournament Team of the Aquafina Invitational.
The Gators are the top serving team in the SEC so far this season, leading the league in aces per set with 2.86. Three Florida players – Cusack (T1st - 1.00/s), Callie Rivers (5th - 0.60/s) and Colleen Ward (T7th - 0.50/s) – rank in the conference's top 10 in service aces.
The 2008 season marks the fourth consecutive year and the sixth time in school history that Florida has hosted the Campus USA Credit Union Invitational. The Gators are 12-0 all-time in the Campus USA Credit Union Invitational.
Florida and Jacksonville meet for the 14th time in the history of the two programs. The Gators lead the all-time series 13-0, including a 6-0 mark under Wise. The two teams, which last met in 2005, met every year from 1992-95. UF is 23-0 all-time vs. teams in the current alignment of the Atlantic Sun Conference.
Jacksonville's 2-1 start to begin the 2008 campaign is its best since the Dolphins went 4-1 to commence the 2000 season. JU posted 3-1 victories against Presbyterian and Georgia Southern last weekend after dropping a hard-fought five-set match to Central Florida last Friday. The Dolphins were picked to finish fourth in the 2008 Atlantic Sun Preseason Coaches Poll after a 19-13 overall record and an 8-3 league mark last season.
Senior outside hitter Sara Bendorf was named the Atlantic Sun Player of the Week last week after tallying three double-doubles to lead the Dolphins to a Holiday Inn Tournament title last weekend in Statesboro, Ga. Bendorf leads the way for Jacksonville, averaging 4.15 kills per set on a .233 hitting percentage. She also ranks third on the team in digs with 2.31. Junior libero Shelley Walroth is the team's defensive leader, averaging 6.54 digs per set, while sophomore setter Hannah Munneke averages 11.31 assists per set.
Complete results and a recap of this weekend's matches will be available at www.GatorZone.com.
| 2008 CAMPUS USA CREDIT UNION INVITATIONAL SCHEDULE |
| Friday, September 5, 2008 |
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| Saturday, September 6, 2008 |
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QUICK NOTES
- Florida leads the all-time series with Jacksonville 13-0, including a 6-0 mark under head coach Mary Wise. The two teams, which last met in 2005, met every year from 1992-95.
- The Gators are 23-0 all-time vs. teams in the current alignment of JU's Atlantic Sun Conference.
- Redshirt freshman outside hitter/right-side Kristy Jaeckel is the reigning Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week and the MVP of the Aquafina Invitational.
- Junior libero Elyse Cusack ranks eighth on Florida's all-time career digs list with 1,150 career scoops. She needs just 21 more digs to tie Meg Fitzgerald for seventh place all-time.
- Florida is 33-9 since the start of the 2003 season in matches that go more than three sets.
END OF REPORT
