Volleyball loses a longtime supporter and other tidbits
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 | Men's Basketball, Gymnastics, Soccer, Softball, Volleyball, Scott Carter
The UF volleyball team lost one of its most passionate supporters recently when longtime Gator Attack Club official Janet Garrett passed away due to a pancreas hemorrhage.
Garrett, 66, was a regular at the O-Dome and at Gators coach Mary Wise's weekly radio show at Gainesville-area Beef O' Brady's. Garrett and her husband, Jack Garrett, served as membership directors for the Gator Attack Club, a booster club for Florida volleyball.
Several volleyball team officials attended a memorial service for Garrett on Saturday at Gainesville's Trinity United Methodist Church.
Gators sophomore Sundai Weston shared the following story Garrett's guest book at legacy.com:
“I remember the first time I ever spoke to Janet. I had been at school and away from my family for three months for the first time ever. Someone at the Gator Attack Club meeting asked me what the hardest adjustment was to college. I said for me it was not being able to hug my parents every night. After the meeting Janet came up to me and told me if I ever needed a hug to just find her. From that day forward, I looked forward to receiving a warm hug after every game, no matter the score or outcome. She'll be greatly missed by me and every other Gator Volleyball player who was fortunate enough to have known her. The thoughts and prayers of the Weston family are with you all.''
At the volleyball team's awards banquet on Sunday, a new award was introduced honoring the late Garrett, who attended nearly every home match and many away matches for years with her husband.
GATOR COMINGS AND GOINGS
--Volleyball players Callie Rivers and Lauren Bledsoe recently completed their UF careers, but both have already joined professional teams. Rivers signed with the Ponce Lions in Puerto Rico and Bledsoe is playing professionally in Finland.
--The Women's Professional Soccer Draft is on Friday and a pair of former Gators – goalkeeper Katie Fraine and defender Ashlee Elliott – are expected to be drafted. Fraine is considered the second-best goalkeeper in the draft behind Texas A&M's Kristin Arnold, and Elliott and ranked the fifth-best defender by a panel of WPS experts.
--Former Gator volleyball star Marcie Hampton, who played professionally in Puerto Rico and Sweden the past two seasons, has returned to Gainesville to take over as head coach at P.K. Yonge, her alma mater.
--Gators sophomore gymnast Liz Green had a big fan at Florida's season-opening meet over Nebraska on Friday. Green's brother, Cole, a pitcher at the University of Texas, watched at the O-Dome. Cole Green was a fourth-round pick of the Detroit Tigers last summer but turned down a significant signing bonus to return for his senior season. He was Big 12 Pitcher of the Year as a junior.
--Former UF basketball player Chris Richard is averaging 12.4 points and 9.5 rebounds for the Liaoning Dinosaurs of the Chinese Basketball Association. Richard, a member of UF's back-to-back national title teams in 2006-07, is joined on the team by fellow American Donta Smith. Once a top recruit who committed to play for Rick Pitino at Louisville, Smith went to the NBA and played briefly for the Hawks.
To report news about a former Gator athlete or coach, send me an e-mail at ScottC@gators.uaa.ufl.edu.
