No. 9/11 Volleyball Looks for 19th Consecutive 20-Win Season Sunday
Saturday, November 7, 2009 | Volleyball
Winners of seven consecutive sweeps, the No. 9/11 Florida volleyball team continues its three-match homestand Sunday by playing host to Auburn. Opening serve in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center is slated for 1:30 p.m. ET and the match will be carried live on Sun Sports with Larry Vettel and Missy Whittemore and on ROCK 104 FM with Tom Collett.
The Gators (19-3, 13-2 Southeastern Conference) will be looking to chart their 19th consecutive 20-win season, as Florida is averaging 32.1 wins per season since head coach Mary Wise took charge of the program prior to the 1991 season. Wise also is nearing her 600th win at Florida, as the team has 597 victories since 1991.
Florida is coming off a 3-0 win against Georgia in which the team hit a season-high .474 in the match, marking the team's highest hitting efficiency since the Gators turned in a .521 clip against Jacksonville on Sept. 5, 2008. On Friday, four Florida players hit .500 or better, also marking the first time that had happened since the JU match last year.
Florida is led offensively by sophomore outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.), who averages a squad-best 3.19 kills per set and is second on the team with 2.27 digs per set. Sophomore right-side/setter Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.) follows with 3.18 kills per set on a squad-best .366 hitting efficiency and averages a team-high 6.22 assists per set. She is the only SEC player to currently rank in the league's top 10 in hitting efficiency, kills per set and assists per set simultaneously.
Murphy, who averages a league-best .421 hitting percentage in SEC matches only, has hit better than .300 in seven consecutive contents. She also is third on the team in digs per set (all matches) with 2.23.
Senior libero Elyse Cusack (Melrose, Fla.), the reigning SEC Defensive Player of the Week, is the team's digs leader with an average of 4.31 scoops per set. Cusack, the school's all-time career digs leader, has 1,966 career digs and needs 71 more to tie former Kentucky standout Jenni Casper for second-place all-time in SEC history.
Sophomore middle blocker Cassandra Anderson (Bakersfield, Calif.) is the team's blocks leader, averaging 1.23 rejections per set, while senior middle blocker Kristina Johnson (Indianapolis, Ind.) follows with 0.77 blocks per set.
The Gators and Tigers meet for the 35th time in the history of the two programs with Florida holding a 33-1 advantage in the all-time series. The Gators are a perfect 29-0 vs. the Tigers under Wise's direction. Florida has claimed 30 consecutive meetings between the two squads and Auburn is one of four SEC teams that Wise has never lost to during her Gator coaching career.
Auburn is coming off a 3-0 loss at South Carolina on Friday night and the Tigers have now dropped three consecutive matches. AU currently is in second place in the SEC Western Division at 14-11 overall and 6-8 in league play. Under the direction of second-year head coach Wade Benson, the Tigers are much improved in 2009 and have won three of their last six matches.
Statistically, the Tigers rank fourth in the SEC in hitting efficiency with a .234 clip entering the weekend, led by junior middle blocker Alyssa Davis' team-high .358 mark, which ranks third in the SEC. Sophomore outside hitter Kelly Fidero leads the team with 2.56 kills per set, while freshman outside hitter Sarah Bullock follows with 2.52 kills per set. Junior libero Liz Crouch heads the team's defensive effort, ranking seventh in the SEC with 4.04 digs per set. Setters Christina Solverson and Sara Shanks average 5.43 and 5.25 assists per set, respectively. Auburn's strength has been playing at home this season, where the team is 9-3. On the road this year, the Tigers are just 2-8 overall.
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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