Gators Open 2010 Season at AVCA Showcase
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 | Volleyball
The University of Florida volleyball team will open its 2010 campaign at the prestigious Runza/AVCA Showcase this weekend at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb. The Gators will face a pair of Big 12 foes in No. 9 Iowa State (Saturday, 3 p.m. ET) and No. 2 Nebraska (Sunday, 5:30 p.m. ET).
Both matches will air live on CBS College Sports, courtesy of Nebraska Educational Telecommunications, with Larry Puteney (play-by-play) and former Nebraska All-American Kathi Wieskamp (color analysis). The matches also will air live on WRUF-AM 850 with Tom Collett.
“This tournament has historically been the premier opening-weekend tournament in women's volleyball and we're fortunate that we've had opportunities to play in it prior,” Florida head coach Mary Wise said. “The added bonus besides the great history of the tournament is playing two top-10 teams in a great volleyball environment, in a state that really loves its volleyball.”
Florida is coming off a 25-6 record in 2009, extending its nation-leading streak of consecutive 25-win seasons to 19. The Gators made their 18th NCAA regional semifinal appearance in the last 19 years in 2009 and finished ranked No. 15 in the final AVCA poll.
Florida's 2010 appearance in the AVCA Showcase (formerly the NACWAA State Farm Classic) marks the fifth time the Gators have participated in the prestigious event and the first time since the 2003 campaign. UF also competed in the tournament in 1996, 1999 and 2000.
The Gators return nine letterwinners from a year ago, including five starters. Junior right-side/setter Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.), a pre-season All-Southeastern Conference selection and a two-time All-American, returns for Florida, after charting nine triple-doubles during the 2009 campaign. Junior outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.) was a first-team All-SEC selection in 2009, ranking ninth in the league with 3.21 kills per set.
Wise enters her 20th season at the helm of the program, having directed the Gators to a nation-leading 603 wins since taking over prior to the start of the 1991 campaign. Wise has a record of 603-67 (.900) at Florida, the best winning percentage of any Division I volleyball program during that 19-year span. She has led the team to 18 SEC Championships and 19 NCAA Tournament appearances, including seven Final Fours.
“The goals don't change,” Wise said. “The team may look different, but the goals stay the same. We want to put ourselves in a position where we're competing for an SEC title and we're playing our best volleyball at the end of the season, with the goal to get into the NCAA Tournament and then be a team that no team wants on our side of the bracket.”
Things will come full-circle for Wise on Saturday as she faces her former employer in Iowa State for the third time in her Florida tenure. Wise served as the Cyclones' head coach from 1981-84, being named head coach at the age of 21. She compiled a record of 81-63 at Iowa State.
Iowa State is coming off of the finest season in program history, recording a 27-5 record and finishing ranked No. 6 in the final AVCA Coaches' Poll. The Cyclones return all but one starter from last year's team, which finished in second place in the Big 12 Conference. During the course of the 2009 campaign, Iowa State climbed as high as No. 5 in the national polls, marking the team's highest-ever ranking and set an NCAA-era team record for both wins (27) and conference wins (17).
Nebraska is coming off a 26-6 record in 2009 and finished ranked No. 5 in the final AVCA Coaches' Poll. The Huskers return six starters from last year's squad, including three All-Americans. Nebraska advanced to the NCAA Regional Finals for a nation-leading sixth consecutive year in 2009, and placed third in the Big 12 Conference with a 16-4 league tally.
The Gators are looking for their seventh consecutive victory in a season-opening match, having won each of the last six lid-lifters. Florida is 18-8 all-time in season openers.
For all of the latest information on Florida volleyball, please log on to www.GatorZone.com/volleyball or, for up-to-the-minute information, follow the team's Twitter account @GatorZoneVB or www.twitter.com/GatorZoneVB.
QUICK NOTES
- The Gators are 36-14 all-time vs. members in the current alignment of the Big 12 Conference, including a 32-9 mark under the direction of head coach Mary Wise. Iowa State will be first Big 12 team that Florida will face since defeating Colorado, 3-0, on Aug. 29, 2009.
- The 2010 campaign will mark the 27th season of Florida volleyball (beginning 1984). The Gators are 759-167 (.820) all-time in program history and 18-8 all-time in season openers.
- Florida's 603 wins since 1991 are the most of any team in the nation during that time period.
- Junior right-side/setter Kelly Murphy has recorded 15 career triple-doubles, which goes down as the most in Florida school history. She also currently ranks 10th all-time in school history in career assists with 1,370, an impressive feat considering she has spent most of her career splitting time in the setter role as part of a 6-2 offensive scheme.
- Murphy and junior outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel each were named to the SEC Preseason Team. Both were first-team All-SEC selections in 2009.
- Senior Erin Fleming will assume the libero position in 2010. Fleming will look to fill the shoes of the SEC's all-time career digs leader, Elyse Cusack (2,138 digs), who completed her eligibility last year.
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