No. 3 Gators Home To Face Ole Miss Sunday
Saturday, September 25, 2010 | Volleyball
The No. 3 Florida volleyball team returns to the Stephen C. O'Connell Center on Sunday following a three-match road swing to play host to Ole Miss in the Gators' Southeastern Conference home opener. Opening serve is slated for 1:30 p.m. ET and the match will be carried live on GatorVision Online and WRUF-AM 850 with Tom Collett and Missy Whittemore.
The Gators (9-1, 2-0 SEC) are coming off a 3-0 sweep of No. 13 Florida State on Wednesday evening in Tallahassee, Fla. The win marked Florida's seventh this season against a team ranked in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Top-25 at the time of the match and the Gators are 7-1 this season against ranked foes.
The Gators enter Sunday's match in first place in the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division with a 2-0 conference record. Florida is one of only three SEC teams with undefeated league records this season, joining LSU (3-0) and Ole Miss (3-0).
“Ole Miss has one of the most athletic teams this year that they've ever had,” Florida head coach Mary Wise said. “We know they're going to play hard. Every single team in the league is capable of winning on any given night because there are so many great players on so many good teams.”
Sunday is SEC Together We CAN Day. In coordination with the Student Athlete Advisory Committee and the Office of Student Life, fans are encouraged to donate canned food items to be donated locally to the Bread of the Mighty Food Bank.
It is also Sunday Funday for kids eighth grade and under. Kids who wear their volleyball jersey/t-shirt are invited to participate in a pre-match parade on the Gator side of the court. Kids can form a tunnel to high-five the team prior to hitline and games, face painting and photo opportunities will be available prior to the match.
Junior right-side/setter Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.), the reigning SEC Offensive Player of the Week who has recorded two consecutive triple-doubles and four this season, leads the Gators with a squad-best 3.15 kills per set on .362 hitting with a team-high 5.44 assists per set, 2.18 digs per set and 0.67 blocks per set for a team-high 146.0 points this season.
Junior outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.) and senior outside hitter Callie Rivers (Winter Park, Fla.) follow with 2.33 and 2.21 kills per set, respectively. Freshman setter Chanel Brown (Tempe, Ariz.) dishes out 5.03 assists per set as part of a 6-2 offensive scheme.
Florida's success this season has come due in large part to a balanced offensive scheme that features five players averaging better than 1.50 kills per set, and also due to the team's dominant blocking. The Gators have out-blocked their opponents 111.5-87.0, a +24.5 edge. Florida averages 2.86 blocks per set as a team.
The Gators and Rebels meet for the 40th time in the history of the two programs with Florida holding a 36-3 lead in the all-time series. UF is 30-0 vs. the Rebels under the direction of Wise, as Ole Miss is one of four SEC teams she has never lost to during her tenure at Florida.
Ole Miss enters Sunday's match with a 9-3 overall record, including a 3-0 mark in SEC play. The Rebels are coming off a 3-0 sweep of South Carolina on Friday night in Columbia, S.C. Sophomore outside hitter Whitney Craven led the way for Ole Miss on Friday night with 15 kills on .433 hitting to complement eight digs. Four Rebels recorded four or more kills in the match for Ole Miss, which hit .274 as a team.
Entering the weekend, junior middle blocker Regina Thomas leads the way for Ole Miss offensively, averaging a team-high 2.79 kills per set on .391 hitting. Craven and senior middle blocker Miranda Kitts follow with 2.57 kills per set each. Thomas directs the team's blocking attack with 1.38 blocks per set, while Kitts chips in 1.07 blocks per set. Junior libero Morgan Springer, the reigning SEC Defensive Player of the Week, heads the squad's back-row effort with 5.39 digs per set.
Complete results and a recap of Sunday's match will be available at www.gatorzone.com.
For all of the latest information on Florida volleyball, please log on to www.gatorzone.com/volleyball or, for up-to-the-minute updates, follow the team's Twitter account @GatorZoneVB or www.twitter.com/GatorZoneVB.
QUICK NOTES
· The Gators enter Sunday's match in first place in the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division with a 2-0 record. Florida is one of only three SEC teams with undefeated league records this season, joining LSU (3-0) and Ole Miss (3-0).
· Florida's 612 wins since 1991 are the most of any team in the nation during that time period.
· The Gators check in at No. 3 in the latest AVCA poll for the second consecutive week. Florida began the season ranked No. 13 in the preseason poll.
· The 2010 campaign marks the 27th season of Florida volleyball (beginning 1984). The Gators are 768-168 (.820) all-time in program history.
· Junior right-side/setter Kelly Murphy has recorded back-to-back triple-doubles and has four triple-dips this season. Murphy has charted 19 career triple-doubles, which is the Florida school record in that category. Angie McGinnis (four career triple-doubles) is the only other Gator to ever record a triple-dip.
· Murphy currently ranks ninth on Florida's all-time career assists list with 1,582 career dishes. Accomplishing that in just 72 career matches is an impressive feat, considering she has spent all but six matches of her collegiate career in a 6-2 offensive scheme.
· The Gators have out-blocked their opponents 111.5-87.0 this season for an impressive +24.5 edge in blocks. Senior middle blocker Lauren Bledsoe leads Florida's blocking brigade with 1.16 blocks per set.
FRIDAY NIGHT SEC SCORES (SEPT. 24, 2010)
Ole Miss 3, South Carolina 0
Georgia 3, Tennessee 2
LSU 3, Alabama 0
Auburn 3, Kentucky 2
Mississippi State 3, Arkansas 2
