Florida Volleyball Notebook: Oct. 26
Monday, October 26, 2009 | Volleyball
The 2009 Southeastern Conference volleyball race is as tight as it's ever been and, at the end of October, there are currently four teams vying for the league's regular-season crown.
Kentucky currently leads the SEC race with a 10-1 conference record, while Florida, LSU and Tennessee all are tied for second place in the league with two conference losses apiece.
Here's how the league race looks at this time:
- Kentucky – 20-2, 10-1 SEC
- LSU – 15-5, 9-2 SEC
- Florida – 16-3, 8-2 SEC
- Tennessee – 15-5, 8-2 SEC
A little bit of clarity may be added to the SEC title race this evening, as LSU and Tennessee are scheduled to square off at 7 p.m. ET tonight in Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn. The team that loses that match will have three losses in league competition, which will set them off pace from the conference leader.
Kentucky and LSU were tied for the conference lead with one loss apiece before the Wildcats staged a 3-2 comeback victory against the Tigers this past Saturday in Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Ky.
STRONG ATTENDANCE AVERAGES ACROSS THE NATION:
The Florida volleyball team is averaging 2,723 fans through its first nine home matches in the 2009 season, and the Gators have averaged more than 2,000 fans in each of their home matches this year.
This week, Florida ranks eighth in the nation in average attendance, according to an unofficial weekly attendance poll compiled by Diane Nordstrom, associate director of communications at the University of Wisconsin.
Nordstrom has compiled the poll for a number of years, relying on each team's volleyball sports information contact to provide the necessary data. Each week, the poll ranks each team in the nation that averages more than 800 fans per home match on the season.
This week's attendance average, released Monday afternoon, features 53 Division I NCAA volleyball teams who average more than 800 fans per match. Nordstrom says it's by far the most teams that meet the 800-fans-per-match average attendance in her recent memory.
NATIONAL ATTENDANCE AVERAGES (AS OF OCT. 26, 2009)
School Avg. Total #
1. Hawai'i 6,363 101,807 16
2. Nebraska 5,077 50,770 10
3. Minnesota 4,467 40,207 9
4. Wisconsin 3,912 31,300 8
5. Texas 3,226 19,353 6
6. Penn State 3,022 24,174 8
7. Wichita State 2,824 25,412 9
8. Florida 2,723 24,510 9
9. Illinois 2,489 19,910 8
10. Washington 2,460 14,761 6
GATORS REMAIN AT NO. 10 IN AVCA POLL:
The Florida volleyball team remains at No. 10 in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association poll, as released Monday afternoon by the Lexington, Ky.-based organization.
Three SEC teams are ranked in the AVCA's top 25 again this week as Florida (10), Kentucky (12) and LSU (20) each check in the top 20. SEC foe Tennessee also is receiving votes.
AVCA POLL (10/26)
- Penn State
- Texas
- Hawai'i
- Stanford
- Washington
- Illinois
- Minnesota
- Nebraska
- Iowa State
- Florida
- UCLA
- Kentucky
- Michigan
- California
- Oregon
- Southern Cal
- Florida State
- Arizona
- San Diego
- LSU
- Washington State
- Baylor
- UC-Irvine
- Saint Louis
- Texas A&M
SEC PLAYERS OF WEEK ANNOUNCED TUESDAY:
Due to the critical LSU-Tennessee match that is scheduled for this evening, the Southeastern Conference will announce its weekly Players of the Week on Tuesday morning to account for tonight's contest, SEC Assistant Media Relations Director Ayanna Wakefield announced Monday.
END OF REPORT
