No. 13 Gators Prepare for Nationally Televised Showdown with Gamecocks
Tuesday, October 18, 2011 | Volleyball
The No. 13 Florida volleyball team continues its road trip as the Gators travel to Columbia to face SEC rival South Carolina as the second featured match of ESPNU's Wednesday Night Women's Volleyball doubleheader. First serve is set for 8 p.m., as Florida and South Carolina follow the showdown between perennial ACC powers Duke and North Carolina.
Florida is coming off its fifth and sixth straight SEC sweeps, as the Gators defeated Ole Miss and Alabama on the road. Senior outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.) continued to dominate at the net, increasing her double-digit kill streak to 13 straight matches, posting 26 kills on the weekend while registering her fifth double-double of the season. The senior outside hitter notched 14 kills and 10 digs on Sunday at Alabama to go along with two service aces and two blocks.
Junior right-side hitter Tangerine Wiggs (Seattle, Wash.) had a stellar weekend, smashing a combined 21 kills on the weekend, while Lowe's Senior CLASS Award finalist Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.) registered 44 assists, 16 kills and 16 digs in the two matches.
The Gators currently lead the conference in hitting percentage (.311) which ranks second in the country. Florida also leads the SEC in opponent hitting percentage (.158) and service aces (1.70/set), which is 16th in the NCAA.
Jaeckel ranks in the SEC's top-10 in four statistical categories, including hitting percentage (.315 - 7th), kills (3.61/set - 5th), points (4.29/set - 5th) and service aces (.29/set - 6th). Murphy ranks in the top-10 in the SEC in service aces (.41/set - 2nd), hitting percentage (.334 - 4th) and assists (5.90/set - 10th). Unroe is seventh in the SEC in service aces (.29/set) and digs (3.65/set). Wiggs is third in hitting percentage with a .349 hitting clip and junior middle blocker Betsy Smith (Atlanta, Ga.) is fourth in the league in blocks with 1.07/set.
South Carolina is coming off its first SEC win of the season, winning in four on the road against Ole Miss. Sparked by the return of sophomore outside hitter Juliette Thevenin, the Gamecocks performed well on all cylinders, with all starting hitters setting new season highs. Thevenin posted a double-double with 17 kills and 10 digs.
The Gators are 44-7 all-time against the Gamecocks, having taken 39 meetings under Florida head coach Mary Wise. Florida is undefeated on the road against conference foes this season, going 5-0 so far with all contests being won in 3-set sweeps.
The match will also be aired on ESPN3.com and Gator fans can tune into Sportsradio 850 to hear the action live with Cory Stephens on the call.
