No. 9/9 Volleyball Wraps Up Road Swing at Georgia
Saturday, October 17, 2009 | Volleyball
The No. 9/9 University of Florida volleyball team wraps up its four-match road swing on Sunday when it travels to the Classic City to face Georgia. Opening serve in the Ramsey Student Center is slated for 1:30 p.m. ET and the match will be carried live on GatorVision Online and ROCK 104 FM with Tom Collett.
The Gators (13-3, 7-2 Southeastern Conference) are coming off a 3-0 sweep of SEC Western Division foe Auburn on Friday night. Three Florida players recorded double-figure kills in that match and sophomore right-side/setter Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.) charted her fifth triple-double of the season with 11 kills on 16 swings with no errors for a .688 hitting efficiency to complement 19 assists and 12 digs.
On the season, Florida is led by sophomore outside hitter Colleen Ward (Naperville, Ill.), who on Friday night turned in a match-high 12 kills on .435 hitting for a match-high 14.5 points, is averaging a squad-best 3.36 kills per set on the season, which ranks seventh in the SEC. Sophomore outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.) follows with 3.12 kills per set (10th in the SEC), while Murphy adds 2.98 put-downs per frame.
Murphy is the only player in the SEC to currently rank in the league's top 10 for both hitting percentage and assists per set. She is the squad's assists leader with 6.31 dishes per set, while also hitting a squad-best .335 on the year.
Senior libero Elyse Cusack (Melrose, Fla.), who turned in a match-high 14 digs against Auburn, averages a team-high 4.22 scoops per set, which ranks third in the SEC. She now has 1,883 career digs, which ranks third all-time in SEC history in digs per set.
Sophomore middle blocker Cassandra Anderson (Bakersfield, Calif.) is the team's best blocker, averaging 1.25 rejections per set, which is third in the conference.
The Gators and Bulldogs meet for the 57th time in the history of the two programs – the longest-running rivalry in UF school history. Florida holds a 47-9 advantage in the all-time series, including a 44-1 mark under head coach Mary Wise. The Gators split a pair of matches with Georgia last season.
The Bulldogs enter Sunday's match in last place in the SEC East with an 11-8 overall record and a 2-6 mark in league play. Georgia leads the conference in service aces per set with 1.56 and is third in the league in blocks per set with 2.43 rejections per frame.
Junior Valentina Gonzalez ranks in the SEC's top 10 in both hitting percentage and service aces. She is second in aces with 0.41 per set, while ranking fourth in hitting percentage with a .351 clip. Gonzalez also ranks fourth in the SEC in blocks per set with 1.15. The squad's kill leader is Erika Clarke, who average 2.96 put-downs per set. Gonzalez and Briana Bahr follow with 2.51 and 2.21 kills per set, respectively. Setter Kathleen Gates is third in the SEC in assists per set with 9.90.
Complete results and a recap of Sunday's match will be available at www.GatorZone.com/volleyball.
For all of the latest information on Florida Volleyball, please log on to www.GatorZone.com/volleyball. Follow the Gators on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GatorZoneVB and Coach Mary Wise on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GatorMary.
The University of Florida is home to the 2009 NCAA Volleyball Regional. For ticket information, log on to www.GatorZone.com/tickets.
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