Florida Volleyball Notebook: August 17, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010 | Volleyball
A quick look at the 2010 Preseason All-Southeastern Conference team, released Tuesday afternoon, and one might think that Florida's success will rest solely on the effectiveness of its pin hitters.
With Preseason All-SEC selections Kristy Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.) on the outside and Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.), a two-time All-American, on the right side, the Gators will indeed rely heavily on their outside attackers. But, following the second of Florida's two practices on Tuesday at the L. Gale Lemerand Center, head coach Mary Wise lauded the team's middle blockers, who will also play a key role both in the team's offensive and defensive success.
“Today, I felt like we saw a breakout performance from our middle hitters,” Wise said. “They've been learning a lot of new defensive and offensive schemes and I really felt like the light came on. The effort has always been there, but today the execution matched their effort. It was a great learning day for our middles.”
Florida's middle blocker corps consists of junior Cassandra Anderson (Bakersfield, Calif.), senior Lauren Bledsoe (Long Beach, Calif.), redshirt freshman Chloe Mann (Gainesville, Fla.) and sophomore Betsy Smith (Atlanta, Ga.).
Anderson has been most impressive through her first two years with the Gators, leading the team in blocks per set in both 2008 and 2009. As a sophomore, she ranked second in the SEC in blocks per set with 1.23 and posted four or more blocks on 19 occasions.
Blocking balls and hitting for high efficiency will be the goal of the squad's middles and, a week-and-a-half into the team's training camp, Wise is encouraged that both of those elements will be staples of their skill sets.
The Gators begin their 2010 campaign Aug. 28-29, when they travel to Omaha, Neb., to participate in the prestigious AVCA Showcase, where they will face Big 12 Conference foes Iowa State and Nebraska.
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.
REMINDER: FAN DAY – AUGUST 21
Florida volleyball will host its annual Fan Day and Orange & Blue Scrimmage on Saturday, Aug. 21 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.
FIRST GATOR HOTLINE WITH MARY WISE SET FOR AUG. 23
The first Gator Hotline with Mary Wise show for the 2010 season will take place Monday, August 23 at 6 p.m. at Beef O'Brady's on Archer Road. The hour-long show also will air live on WRUF-AM 850. Fans are encouraged to attend and also can dial (800) 392-8255 to ask their questions of Coach Wise live on the air. Tom Collett will host the show along with former Gator All-SEC selection Missy Whittemore.
