Mission to Finish: Gators Have Responded Well to Early Season Losses
Sunday, October 23, 2011 | Volleyball, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Gators volleyball team has a thing for mottos.
Do Your Part.
You don't have to be a volleyball expert to understand this one. The Gators like to remind each other that if everyone fulfills their role for the greater good, then this is a team that could do some big things.
Will It Back.
This mantra is centered on blocking shots and playing the kind of defense at the net that can drive opponents crazy and send them scrambling to recover. When Florida's players up front see a big hitter ready to blast away across the net, they want to form their own version of the Steel Curtain.
“There's nothing more frustrating for a hitter than getting blocked,'' Gators junior Tangerine Wiggs said Saturday.
Get Better Each Week.
This one has gone well over the past month. The Gators haven't lost since Sept. 25 when a home loss to SEC rival Tennessee put the Gators in a bad mood and snapped their 23-game conference win streak.
Better September Than December.
The No. 13-ranked Gators (16-3, 9-1 SEC) host Mississippi State on Sunday at the O'Connell Center seeking their eighth consecutive win. Let's rephrase that. The Gators are seeking their eighth consecutive sweep.
Florida hasn't lost a set since dropping the fifth set to the Vols nearly a month ago. The loss to Tennessee followed earlier defeats to Iowa State and Stanford. All three losses came in September, and with the NCAA Tournament set for December, you can see what the Gators are saying with this motto.
Finally, the most important slogan of all, one so important that it is printed on notebooks the players carry around.
Finish.
All the other mottos lead here.
“That's our theme for the season,'' freshman Madison Monserez said. “We know we have to take care of what is in front of us right now. Right now, it's SEC games. We know what our long-term goal will be but we know that in order to reach that goal we have to focus on what's in front of us.''
The Gators' long-term goal is the same as a year ago and the year before that and the year before that and … you get the idea. Florida wants to crack the elite group of schools to win an NCAA title. In 2010 the Gators appeared to have perhaps their best shot in Mary Wise's 21-year tenure.
They were ranked No. 1 for most of the season. They suffered an early season loss to Penn State and then reeled off 24 consecutive wins. They arrived in Austin, Texas, for a Sweet 16 matchup with Purdue looking for another win on the way to the Final Four.
That's when they crashed. Purdue showed the Gators the door, exposing some of Florida's flaws such as back-row defense.
The Gators are now a different team, one without three seniors who played vital roles a year ago in Callie Rivers, Lauren Bledsoe and Erin Fleming. They continue to rely heavily on senior standouts Kelly Murphy and Kristy Jaeckel, but they have help.
Players like freshman defensive specialist Monserez, middle blockers Betsy Smith and Chloe Mann, and defensive specialist Taylor Unroe are playing more important roles. With the pieces to the puzzle fitting nicely, the Gators are currently on a tear they don't want to see end.
Monserez was a senior at Orlando's Bishop Moore High last December while several of her current teammates were disappointed by Purdue. Monserez wasn't around, but she was part of a team that made it all the way to the state Final Four and understands the focus that it takes to make a deep postseason run.
She saw a change in the Gators following the loss to Tennessee.
“This team puts it all out on the floor,'' Monserez said. “We are all out for the same goal and we are all working toward that. This team is very competitive. [That loss] was something that was really tough, but it was something that really motivated us to a whole new level.''
The Gators remain a work in progress. The job is far from finished according to Wiggs.
“If we're not playing our best volleyball in December then we haven't succeeded as a team,'' Wiggs said. “We come in every day working to get better.''
To speed up the process, there was a players-only meeting after the loss to Tennessee. There was another team meeting with the coaches.
The Gators have responded in a way that pleases Wise, who has dominated the SEC during her tenure.
“It's all about can our team get better from month to month, and clearly we've done that,'' Wise said following Wednesday night's sweep at South Carolina.
Now it's all about that word on those notebooks.
Finish.
Can the Gators finish the SEC season strong and claim another league crown? Can they play well enough to host a NCAA regional match? Can they make it to the Final Four? Can they finally win that elusive national title they have been striving for under Wise?
Only time will tell. For now, those early season losses appear to have pointed them at least in the right direction.
“Losing was good for us because it exposed us and a lot of the things we needed to work on,'' Wiggs said. “We didn't have that same wake-up call last year. It's actually a blessing in disguise.''
