No. 13 Gators Hit the Road to Face Rebels and Crimson Tide
Friday, October 14, 2011 | Volleyball
The No. 13 Florida volleyball team prepares for another SEC West road trip as the Gators travel to Ole Miss and Alabama for the weekend. On Friday, the Orange and Blue face the Rebels at 8 p.m. ET with Cory Stephens calling the action on Sportsradio 850. Florida then hits the road for a Sunday matchup at Alabama at 2 p.m. ET. Gator fans can tune in to Country 103.7 The Gator to hear Stephens on the call. The match will also be aired live on FOX SportSouth with Pete Pranica providing play-by-play and Phil Bush adding color commentary.
The Gators are coming off two weekend sweeps of Arkansas and SEC West leader LSU. Florida was led by senior outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.) who registered 26 kills on the weekend. Juniors Betsy Smith (Atlanta, Ga.) and Tangerine Wiggs (Seattle, Wash.) each recorded an errorless performance, as Smith hit .750 (9-0-12) against the Razorbacks and Wiggs posted a .615 (8-0-13) hitting clip against the Tigers on Sunday.
Florida's defensive performance against LSU was its best of the season, as the Gators forced the Tigers to just .027 hitting on the afternoon. Florida's defense held LSU's offensive threats to no more than six kills and the best individual hitting percentage was just .333. Redshirt freshman Taylor Unroe (Muncie, Ind.) had one of her best outings in the Orange and Blue, registering 16 digs and continuing multiple rallies in crucial points throughout the match.
Jaeckel ranks in the SEC's top-10 in four statistical categories, including hitting percentage (.318 - 7th), kills (3.54/set - 5th), points (4.20/set - 5th) and service aces (.29/set - 8th). Lowe's Senior CLASS Award finalist Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.) ranks in the top-10 in the SEC in service aces (.44/set - 3rd), hitting percentage (.319 - 6th) and assists (5.75/set - 10th). Unroe is sixth in the SEC in service aces (.32/set) and eighth in digs (3.56/set). Wiggs is third in hitting percentage with a .347 hitting clip and Smith is fourth in the league in blocks with 1.08/set.
Ole Miss continues to be lead by senior middle blocker Regina Thomas who is tops in the Southeastern Conference in hitting and blocks coming into the weekend. Thomas is hitting at a .380 clip so far this season after leading the league in hitting a year ago. She also is putting down 1.14 blocks per set which leads the conference. Joining her on the attack is sophomore outside hitter Kara Morgan who continues to emerge as a weapon in the Rebel offense. Morgan put down a career-high 18 kills last Sunday in an upset bid of No. 19 Tennessee on the road. The performance came on the heels of a previous career-best 15 kills against Mississippi State just a week earlier.
Allegra Wells leads the Rebels with 2.50 kills per set this season and has put down a team-leading 160 kills on the year, while junior outside hitter Whitney Craven continues to return to form with a pair of double-digit kill performances last weekend at Kentucky and Tennessee. Leading the back row defense for the Rebels is senior libero Morgan Springer who averages 3.98 digs per set, the fourth best average in the SEC this season.
Last week, Alabama posted a 1-2 record that including a straight sets win over Alabama A&M, before suffering back-to-back straight set losses on the road during SEC play. The Crimson Tide dominated the Bulldogs on Tuesday night, posting a 25-12, 25-12, 25-9 win at home. UA hit .420 in the match, while holding Alabama A&M to -.045 hitting percentage, the lowest total the Tide has held an opponent to this season. At No. 19 Tennessee on Friday, Alabama hit .238 against the Lady Vols, but dropped to .500 for the season following the loss.
UA fell under the .500 mark for the second time in 2011, following a 3-0 loss at Kentucky on Sunday. Sophomore Shelbi Goode led the Tide for the week with 23 kills to average 2.56 kills per set. Goode, who hit .246 for the week, had nine kills against Tennessee and led UA with six kills in the match at Kentucky. Goode was one of three players with at-least 20 kills last week. Andrea McQuaid had 22 kills (2.44 kps) and a .300 hitting percentage.
