No. 6 Volleyball Heads to Bayou for Primetime Sunday Showdown
Friday, October 9, 2009 | Volleyball
| GATOR MATCH-DAY VS. LSU | |
| FLORIDA | LSU |
The No. 6/6 University of Florida volleyball team stays on the road this weekend when it embarks on Baton Rouge, La., to take on the LSU Tigers in a primetime Sunday night showdown in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Opening serve is set for 7 p.m. ET and the match will be nationally televised on ESPNU with Anne Marie Anderson and Kelli Tennant, and on WRUF-AM 850 with Tom Collett.
The Gators (12-2, 6-1 Southeastern Conference) are coming off a four-set win at South Carolina on Wednesday night. In that match, sophomore right-side/setter Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.) turned in her nation-leading fourth triple-double with 12 kills, 25 assists and 17 digs to complement five blocks.
LSU enters Sunday's match as the SEC Western Division leader with an 11-4 overall record and a 5-1 mark in league play. The Tigers will square off with South Carolina this evening at 8 p.m. ET at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
“After playing at South Carolina Wednesday night, to turn around and play LSU in Baton Rouge will be a difficult match,” Florida head coach Mary Wise said. “A year ago, they were without two key players who had injuries, but they're back and playing at home. It doesn't get any easier for this team.”
The Gators are led by sophomore outside hitter Colleen Ward (Naperville, Ill.), who ranks fifth in the SEC with 3.45 kills per set. She has recorded double-figure kills in 12 of 14 matches, including a match-high 18 put-downs in the team's Wednesday win against South Carolina. Sophomore outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.) follows with 3.11 kills per set, while Murphy adds 2.94 put-downs per set.
Murphy also ranks seventh in the league in assists per set (6.28) and ninth in hitting percentage (.325). Sophomore middle blocker Cassandra Anderson (Bakersfield, Calif.) ranks third in the SEC in blocks per set with 1.23 and is coming off a career-high-tying 10-block performance against the Gamecocks on Wednesday.
Senior libero Elyse Cusack (Melrose, Fla.) is tops on the team and sixth in the conference with 4.04 digs per set. Cusack now has 1,848 career digs and ranks third all-time in SEC history in that category.
The Gators and Tigers meet for the 42nd time in the history of the two programs with Florida holding a 30-11 advantage in the all-time series. UF has claimed 26 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 30 wins in the all-time series have come as 3-0 sweeps.
The Tigers have won four consecutive matches during a road swing and seven of their last eight contests to move into first place in the SEC Western Division. LSU's offense is coming off a season-best .391 hitting percentage at Mississippi State last Sunday.
Senior middle blocker Britnee Cooper leads the SEC in hitting percentage with a .385 clip, while also ranking fifth in the league with 3.34 kills per set. Additionally, Cooper is second in the conference in blocks with 1.27 rejections per set. Senior outside hitter/right-side Marina Skender has recorded double-figure kills in 10 consecutive matches and adds 3.20 put-downs per set. Sophomore defensive specialist Lauren Waclawczyk ranks eighth in the SEC in digs per set with 3.90 and has tallied double-figure scoops in five of her last six matches.
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.
QUICK NOTES
- The Gators and Tigers meet for the 42nd time in the history of the two programs with Florida holding a 30-11 advantage in the all-time series. UF has claimed 26 consecutive meetings with LSU, dating back to the 1992 campaign.
- Florida's 590 wins since 1991 are the most of any team in the nation during that time period.
- Senior libero Elyse Cusack is the school's all-time career digs leader with 1,848 career scoops. She ranks third all-time in SEC history for career digs and is the first Florida player to achieve 1,800 career digs.
- Cusack needs 189 more digs to tie former Kentucky player Jenni Casper for second place in league career annals.
- Sophomore right-side/setter Kelly Murphy has four triple-doubles this season to lead the nation and holds the Florida career record in that category with 10.
END OF REPORT
