No. 1 Gators Host Alabama on Senior Day Sunday
Saturday, November 13, 2010 | Volleyball
The No. 1 University of Florida volleyball team closes out its 2010 regular-season home schedule on Sunday when it plays host to Alabama on Senior Day. Opening serve is slated for 1 p.m. ET in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center and the match will be carried live on 103.7 FM The Gator with Tom Collett and Missy Whittemore.
Sunday's match will mark the final home regular-season contest for a trio of seniors in Lauren Bledsoe (Long Beach, Calif.), Erin Fleming (Orlando, Fla.) and Callie Rivers (Winter Park, Fla.). The 2010 senior class has compiled a combined record of 104-14 (.881), including a 69-7 (.901) mark in Southeastern Conference play. The trio will be honored Sunday in a pre-match ceremony.
The Gators (23-1, 16-0 SEC) are riding an 18-match winning streak and are coming off a 3-1 victory against Mississippi State at home on Thursday night. Junior outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.) led three Florida players in double-figure kills with 12 kills and 12 digs for her second double-double of the season.
Florida holds a two-match lead in the SEC Championship race with four conference matches remaining. UF boasts a 16-0 league mark, while LSU is in second with a 14-2 conference tally. Ole Miss and Tennessee are tied for third with 12-5 conference records. The Gators could clinch at least a share of their 19th SEC title with two victories or with one win coupled with an LSU loss. The Tigers defeated Tennessee, 3-1, on Friday afternoon in Knoxville, Tenn., and will square off with Kentucky at 2 p.m. ET Sunday.
Florida ranks among the nation's top-20 in three different statistical categories. The Gators are 14th nationally in hitting percentage (.286), 15th nationally in blocks per set (2.78) and 18th in the country in service aces per set (1.72).
The Gators are led offensively by junior outside hitter Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.), who ranks among the SEC's top-10 individually in kills per set, service aces and hitting percentage. She is the only player in the SEC to rank among the league's top-10 in those three statistical categories, simultaneously. Murphy leads the SEC with 0.38 service aces per set, ranks sixth in the league with a .365 hitting efficiency and is ninth in the league with 3.15 kills per set. Murphy, who has turned in 11 consecutive double-doubles, leads the nation with six triple-doubles on the year.
Jaeckel and Rivers follow with 2.43 and 2.31 kills per set, respectively, while Rivers is second on the team with 2.29 digs per set. Rivers ranks fifth in the SEC with 0.31 service aces per set, while Jaeckel is sixth with 0.30 aces per set.
Three Florida players average better than 1.0 blocks per set, led by junior middle blocker Cassandra Anderson (Bakersfield, Calif.), who leads the league with 1.20 blocks per set. Bledsoe and sophomore right-side Tangerine Wiggs (Seattle, Wash.) follow with 1.06 and 1.01 blocks per set, respectively. Bledsoe ranks ninth in the conference in blocks.
Freshman setter Chanel Brown (Tempe, Ariz.) dishes out a squad-best 5.55 assists per set, while Fleming heads the team's back-row effort, ranking ninth in the SEC with 3.57 digs per set.
The Gators and Crimson Tide meet for the 34th time in the history of the two programs, with Florida leading the all-time series 33-0, including a perfect 31-0 mark under Wise's direction. Florida is 14-0 all-time vs. the Crimson Tide when the match is played in Gainesville. Twenty-nine of the Gators' 33 wins against Alabama have come as 3-0 sweeps.
Alabama enters the weekend in last place in the SEC Western Division. The Crimson Tide has a record of 10-16 overall and 2-14 in the league. Alabama has lost eight of its last nine matches, including a 3-1 loss at South Carolina on Friday night. The Tide's lone win in that span came in an electrifying 3-2 victory against Kentucky on Nov. 7.
Alabama is led offensively by sophomore outside hitter Kayla Fitterer, the reigning SEC Offensive Player of the Week, who ranks third in the SEC with 3.73 kills per set. In league matches only, Fitterer leads the conference with 3.97 put-downs per set.
In the Crimson Tide's upset of Kentucky last Sunday, Fitterer tallied a career-high 34 kills (the highest total in the SEC this season) and added 24 digs. She became the first Alabama attacker to reach the 30-kill plateau since Erin Heffner did so on Sept. 11, 2004.
Senior right-side Alyssa Meuth and freshman outside hitter Brianne Vande Griend follow with 3.33 and 2.23 kills per set, respectively. Meuth ranks seventh in the SEC in kills per set. Sophomore libero Kelsey Anderson ranks third in the SEC with 4.47 digs per set, while senior setter Kayla Schmidt is 10th in the SEC with 6.13 assists per set.
Head Coach Judy Green is in her 15th and final season at the helm of the Alabama program, having announced prior to the season that she will be retiring following the 2010 campaign. She has a record of 236-231 (.506) in her 15th season at Alabama.
Complete results and a recap of Sunday's match will be available at GatorZone.com.
For all of the latest information on Florida volleyball, please log on to www.gatorzone.com/volleyball. Follow Florida volleyball on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GatorZoneVB and Coach Mary Wise on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GatorMary.
QUICK NOTES
· Sunday's match marks the final home regular-season contest for the Gators in 2010. Seniors Lauren Bledsoe, Erin Fleming and Callie Rivers will each be honored in a pre-match ceremony. To this point, the 2010 senior class has compiled an overall record of 104-14 (.881), including a 69-7 (.901) mark in SEC play.
· Florida needs just two more victories to extend the nation's longest streak of consecutive 25-win seasons to 20. The Gators have posted at least 25 victories in each of the last 19 campaigns.
· The Gators are ranked No. 1 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Poll for the fifth consecutive week and the 10th time in program history. Florida is 21-1 all-time when playing as the nation's top-ranked squad.
· Florida's 626 victories since the start of the 1991 campaign lead the nation during that span.
· Alabama is one of four SEC opponents that head coach Mary Wise has never lost to during her Florida tenure. Wise also is undefeated against Auburn, Mississippi State and Ole Miss.
· Florida ranks among the nation's top-20 in three different statistical categories. The Gators are 14th nationally in hitting percentage (.286), 15th nationally in blocks per set (2.78) and 18th in the country in service aces per set (1.72).
· Senior libero Erin Fleming eclipsed the 600-dig plateau for her career on Thursday night and now has 608 career scoops.
· Florida is the only team to have three players rank among the SEC's top-10 individually in service aces per set (all matches combined). Junior right-side/setter Kelly Murphy leads the SEC in service aces per set with 0.38. In conference matches only, Murphy averages a league-best 0.45 aces per set.
· Murphy is looking to become the 17th player in program history to reach the 1,000-kill plateau for her career. Murphy has 943 career kills and needs 57 more put-downs to reach 1,000. She currently ranks 20th all-time in school history in career kills.
· Junior middle blocker Cassandra Anderson leads the SEC with 1.20 blocks per set and is seventh in the league with a .353 hitting efficiency.
SEC VOLLEYBALL STANDINGS (AS OF NOV. 13, 2010)
Eastern Division
| Team | Overall | SEC |
| Florida | 23-1 | 16-0 |
| Tennessee | 21-6 | 12-5 |
| Kentucky | 15-12 | 9-8 |
| Georgia | 13-16 | 4-13 |
| South Carolina | 6-20 | 3-13 |
Western Division
| Team | Overall | SEC |
| LSU | 23-2 | 14-2 |
| Ole Miss | 18-8 | 12-5 |
| Auburn | 17-11 | 8-8 |
| Arkansas | 13-14 | 7-9 |
| Mississippi State | 11-16 | 3-13 |
| Alabama | 10-16 | 2-14 |
TUESDAY'S SEC MATCHES
Georgia 3, Kennesaw State 0
THURSDAY'S SEC MATCHES
Florida 3, Mississippi State 1
FRIDAY'S SEC MATCHES
South Carolina 3, Alabama 1
Kentucky 3, Arkansas 0
Ole Miss 3, Georgia 1
LSU 3, Tennessee 1
SATURDAY'S SEC MATCHES
Mississippi State at South Carolina – 7 p.m.
SUNDAY'S SEC MATCHES
Alabama at Florida – 1 p.m. ET
Arkansas at Tennessee – 2 p.m. ET (CSS)
Ole Miss at Auburn – 8 p.m. ET
LSU at Kentucky – 1:30 p.m. ET
