No. 15 Gators Meet No. 25 Notre Dame in Regular-Season Finale Saturday
Saturday, November 28, 2009 | Volleyball
Central to the goal of preparing for back-to-back days of play in the NCAA Tournament, the No. 15 Florida volleyball team will compete in its second match in as many days on Saturday when it hosts No. 25 Notre Dame in a top-25 showdown at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. Opening serve is slated for 7:30 p.m. ET and the match will be carried live on GatorZone.com with Tom Collett and Missy Whittemore.
The Gators (22-5, 16-4 Southeastern Conference) are coming off a 3-0 sweep of South Carolina in the final league match for both of the teams this season. Florida hit a season-high .519 in the match, marking the team's highest offensive efficiency since a .521 clip against Jacksonville on Sept. 5, 2008.
Head coach Mary Wise earned her 600th win at Florida in Friday night's sweep, giving her a 600-66 (.901) record at Florida. The 600 wins since 1991 mark the most of any NCAA Division I volleyball program during that stretch.
“It has been our goal since the beginning of the year to be playing our best volleyball at the end of the season,” Wise said. “Tomorrow night, we have a challenge against a top-25 team. Notre Dame presents some match-up problems, but it's another opportunity to get better.”
Offensively, Florida is led by sophomore outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.), who averages 3.28 kills per set, which ranks first on the team and eighth in the SEC. Jaeckel led the Gators in their win against South Carolina with 11 kills on 18 swings with no errors for a .611 hitting efficiency. Sophomore outside hitter Colleen Ward (Naperville, Ill.) follows with 3.11 kills per set.
Sophomore right-side/setter Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.) is averaging a squad-best 6.63 assists per set and 3.04 kills per set. She has an NCAA Division I leading nine triple-doubles in 2009.
Senior libero Elyse Cusack (Melrose, Fla.) heads the team's defensive effort, ranking third in the SEC with 4.58 digs per set. She now has 2,069 career digs and needs 58 more digs to become the SEC's all-time career digs leader. Cusack is a three-time SEC Defensive Player of the Week selection in 2009, including this past week.
Junior middle blocker Lauren Bledsoe (Long Beach, Calif.) has been on a tear in her last three matches, averaging 2.09 kills per set on .370 hitting with 1.18 blocks per set during that span.
The Gators and Fighting Irish meet for the eighth time in the history of the two schools with Florida leading the all-time series 5-2. The Gators have won four of the last five meetings between the two teams, including a 3-1 win in South Bend, Ind., during the 2007 campaign. All seven previous meetings between Florida and Notre Dame have come since the 1992 season.
Notre Dame, the 2009 BIG EAST Conference Champion, enters Saturday's match with a 21-5 overall record, including a 14-0 league tally. The Fighting Irish have won 16 of their last 17 matches, including 15 consecutive from Sept. 25-Nov. 21, before falling to Louisville in the BIG EAST Tournament semifinals.
Notre Dame is led by senior outside hitter Serenity Phillips, who averages a squad-best 3.47 kills per set. Sophomore outside hitter Kristen Dealy and senior outside hitter Christina Kaelin follow with 3.31 and 3.21 kills per set, respectively. Senior setter Jamel Nichols ranks 20th in the nation in assists per set with a squad-best 11.28 dishes per frame.
Head coach Debbie Brown is in her 19th season at the helm of the Fighting Irish and just recently secured her sixth BIG EAST Conference Coach of the Year honor this season.
The Gators are 33-2 all-time vs. teams in the current alignment of the BIG EAST Conference.
Complete results and a recap of Saturday'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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