Back Where They Belong, Gator Volleyball Looks To Secure Outright SEC Title
Thursday, November 18, 2010 | Volleyball, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Senior Day at the O'Connell Center was in the books.
The No. 1-ranked UF volleyball team had knocked off Alabama on Sunday as the senior trio of Erin Fleming, Lauren Bledsoe and Callie Rivers was honored on the court with their families.
The win was Florida's 19th in a row. Once the festivities ended, players and coaches headed off on their own.
Fleming went to a local restaurant to celebrate with her family.
Soon after arriving for dinner, Fleming received a text message from teammate Kristy Jaeckel.
“Everything stopped,'' Fleming said. “I told the whole family and started texting everybody.''
What had Jaeckel texted that made Fleming drop her fork? Kentucky beat LSU.
Perhaps not headline news around the country, but for the Gators it was the day's top story.
LSU's loss guaranteed the Gators of a share of their 19th SEC title. For a program that has dominated the SEC in Coach Mary Wise's 20 seasons and has been ranked No. 1 in the country for a school-record six consecutive weeks, that might not seem like a huge deal.
This year is different.
Junior force Kelly Murphy was in her room on Facebook when she received word Sunday night that the Gators had clinched at least a tie for the league title.
Murphy instantly “liked'' the status update.
“It's definitely been a huge goal,'' Murphy said. “We talked about it at the beginning of the season. We thought we had the talent to do it as long as we just kept working hard. Every match we just felt a little more comfortable, a little more confident.''
To understand what makes this year different, you have to go back to last year.
Florida failed to win the SEC. That was headline news after the Gators had claimed 18 conference titles in a row.
“When we first started the season, we sort of took the underdog approach,'' Fleming said. “People were disappointed in our performance last year and coming in, we weren't picked [to win the SEC].''
Sensing a need to assert herself more, Fleming visited Wise's office one day last January. She told Wise she wanted to take on more of a leadership role her final season. Wise told her to go for it.
Fleming, considered a role player at the time, has emerged as the “team mom'' according to Wise.
She organizes team outings. She offers to listen when a teammate needs to talk. She has also played a mean libero.
At the center of Fleming's quest to be more of a leader was reclaiming the SEC title.
“When it slipped out of our fingers, it was a punch in the face,'' Fleming said. “Getting back up from that was what was so important for us. We just lost something and we want it back.''
The Gators (24-1) play at SEC West foes Arkansas on Friday and LSU on Sunday. Any combination of a Florida win and LSU loss means the Gators win the SEC outright.
“This will be as big of a weekend for us as we've had all year,'' Wise said.
No one has to tell Fleming that.
“We really want this SEC title to be ours,'' she said. “We don't want to share it with anyone else. We want to be the first team since 2003 to go undefeated in the SEC.''
The Gators' only loss came in early September to then-No. 1 Penn State. Since then, the Gators have slammed their way through the SEC schedule, winning all 17 conference matches, including 11 sweeps.
They have three more left to reach one of their preseason goals. Fleming has enjoyed every second of her more prominent role.
She says this team is unlike any she has played on, and she has been playing volleyball since elementary school.
“We are competitive, just downright dirty competitive – who gets to the gym first, who walks faster, just silly stuff like that,'' she said. “Nobody wants to lose. That's kind of the mentality we've taken on.''
Based on the results, the approach has worked perfectly – at least in SEC play.
The Gators will try to finish the job in their final three matches before they will look ahead to the NCAA Tournament and the biggest prize of all.
“We kind of see the light at the end of the tunnel as far as the SEC goes,'' Murphy said. “We just have to take care of our business.''
