No. 17 Gator Volleyball Hosts Gamecocks to Finish SEC Slate at Home
Wednesday, November 23, 2011 | Volleyball
The No. 17 Florida volleyball team closes the 2011 regular season by hosting the South Carolina Gamecocks on Wednesday evening. First serve is set for 7 p.m. and Gator fans can tune into Sportsradio 850 with longtime play-by-play announcer Tom Collett and former Gator All-SEC setter Missy Whittemore with the call.
Florida is coming off its fifth and sixth straight victories, as the Gators defeated Georgia and Auburn at home. Senior outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.) led Florida over Georgia with 19.0 points, hitting .480 with 14 kills in the three-set sweep, the most in a 3-0 sweep since Callie Rivers in 2007 (vs. College of Charleston, Nov. 29, 2007). The Gator middles, Cassandra Anderson (Bakersfield, Calif.), Chloe Mann (Gainesville, Fla.) and Betsy Smith (Atlanta, Ga.), combined for 17 kills on 21 swings with no errors, paced by Mann's .818 hitting clip.
On Sunday, the Gators were led on Senior Day by Lowe's Senior CLASS finalist Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.), who had eight kills and no errors, hitting .615 against the Tigers. Mann contributed five blocks and Jaeckel added a match-high seven digs.
The Gators currently lead the nation in hitting efficiency (.308) and are tops in the SEC in service aces (1.64/set), good for 18th in the NCAA, and opponent hitting percentage (.162).
Mann leads the conference with a .540 hitting clip on the season, with junior right-side Tangerine Wiggs (Seattle, Wash.) (4th - .337) and Murphy (6th - .322) also in the top-10. Jaeckel ranks in the top-10 in service aces (1st - .42/set) along with Murphy (3rd - .35/set), while the Colorado native also paces the Gators in the SEC rankings in points (5th - 4.16/set) and kills (8th - 3.36/set). Redshirt freshman libero Taylor Unroe (Muncie, Ind.) ranks seventh among the league in digs (3.58/set), finding herself second among the league's freshmen on defense.
South Carolina is coming off its first weekend sweep in 2011 SEC play with four-set wins over Auburn and Georgia. The Gamecocks are led by sophomore outside hitter Juliette Th?venin, who paces the Garnet and Black with 3.68 kills/set, good for fourth in the league. The Belgium native also ranks in the top-10 in points (7th - 4.07/set) and digs (3.45/set). Sophomore libero Paige Wheeler earned her second SEC Defensive Player of the Week nod of November after leading the Gamecocks with 5.75 digs/set in last weekend's matches. Wheeler is third in the conference in digs with 4.58/set this fall.
Florida and South Carolina are meeting for the 53rd time in the history of the two programs, with Florida taking 45 meetings in the series. Under Florida head coach Mary Wise, the Gators are 40-2 against the Gamecocks and 24-1 overall against South Carolina in the friendly confines of the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
Wednesday's match is Florida's Gators Give Thanks night. Any fan who brings a new toy will receive free admission. KTK and Sky-FM will donate all toys to Toys for Tots. Any fan who brings two canned food items will also receive free admission, with all items going to the local Salvation Army. The first 500 fans will receive a free Florida Volleyball blanket, courtesy of Gatorade. Fans will also be treated to a video of the Florida seniors and what they are most thankful for this Thanksgiving.
