Florida Volleyball Notebook: August 10
Tuesday, August 11, 2009 | Volleyball
AUDIO:Coach Wise podcast regarding the first day of practice (MP3). The University of Florida volleyball team jump-started its 2009 season on Monday when it opened with its first practice at the L. Gale Lemerand Center.
The Gators practiced for more than two hours, working primarily on serving and passing exercises, while going over offensive terminology and participating in a few rotational drills.
"We worked on serving and passing and went through the offense in terms of the nomenclature," Florida head coach Mary Wise said. "We've got two new setters, so we had to take the time to go through that. But, I felt like we accomplished a lot and we set a good base to be able to move at a much faster pace tomorrow."
Wise commented upon the ability of the team to be able to move at a much faster pace during the 2009 preseason than it was able to do last year. Instead of featuring a half-dozen freshmen, this year's edition has 11 players on its roster who were with the team in 2008.
"These are players who have played together all summer and we have so many returning players," Wise said. "This year, we don't have to walk our players through our system - they know our system. Buckle up the seat belts, we told them, because we're moving full-speed ahead."
The squad begins its two-a-day practices on Tuesday.
GATORS PARTICIPATE IN PHOTO DAY ON MONDAY
One of the first activities that the Gators participated in on Monday morning when they arrived at the Lemerand Center was the team's annual photo day.
Photographer Jim Burgess was on hand to take a variety of pictures for the team's media guide, marketing and promotional pieces and for the video boards in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
Select photos of this event are available on Match Point: The Official Blog of Florida Volleyball.
The University of Florida is home to the 2009 NCAA Volleyball Regional. To order 2009 regular season and NCAA Regional tickets, log on to www.GatorZone.com/tickets. Follow Florida Volleyball on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GatorZoneVB and Coach Mary Wise on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GatorMary.
REMINDER: FAN DAY - AUGUST 23
Florida volleyball will host its annual Fan Day and Orange & Blue Scrimmage on Sunday, Aug. 23 in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. Gates open at 12:30 p.m. and autographs with players and student-athletes begin at 1 p.m. The intra-squad scrimmage will take place at approximately 2 p.m.
END OF REPORT
