Three Gators Named to USA A2 Team
Thursday, March 24, 2011 | Volleyball
Three University of Florida volleyball players are among 36 collegiate athletes selected by USA Volleyball to its roster of the U.S. Women's National A2 team for 2011, the Colorado Springs, Colo., based organization announced.
The Gators' Cassandra Anderson (Bakersfield, Calif.), Kristy Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.) and Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.) each have been named to this year's A2 roster.
The U.S. Women's National A2 Program will take place in Dallas from May 23 through June 1. The program includes training and competition in the 2011 USA Volleyball Open National Championships in the Open Division from May 28-31. USA Volleyball considers the event as the National Championship for the sport of volleyball in the United States. Athletes selected to the U.S. Women's National A2 Program were selected from the U.S. Women's National Team Open Tryouts held Feb. 25-27 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. A record 204 athletes participated in the three-day tryouts, representing 81 different college programs.
A total of 22 colleges are represented in the U.S. Women's National A2 Program with University of Texas, University of Florida, University of Illinois and University of Tennessee having three players each. The A2 group represents 13 states, led by Illinois with nine players and California with seven. Texas has four players in the mix, including two players from the same hometown – Amarillo.
Anderson was a 2010 Second-Team All-Southeastern Conference selection, starting each of the team's 31 matches at middle blocker in her junior season. She led the SEC and ranked 28th in the nation in blocks per set with 1.27. She became the first Gator to lead the SEC in blocks per set since Benavia Jenkins did so in 2002. During the course of the season, she became just the 18th player in school history to record 300 career blocks and now ranks tied for 13th in school history in career blocks with 343. Anderson also ranked seventh in the SEC last season (all matches combined) with a .3484 hitting efficiency, hitting better than .400 on 14 instances last year.
Jaeckel was a 2010 All-SEC Second Team selection and an All-South Region honoree, starting each of Florida's 31 matches at outside hitter. She ranked third on the team in kills per set with 2.51 and finished the year ranked eighth in the SEC in service aces per set with 0.28. She recorded double-figure kills in 12 matches during the course of the year, including four of her last seven, and had double-figure digs on seven occasions. Jaeckel charted three double-doubles in 2010, including 18 kills and 12 digs vs. Florida State in the NCAA Second Round, a match in which she had the final two kills in the deciding fifth set.
Murphy, the 2010 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year, was named a first-team selection by the American Volleyball Coaches Association in December. Murphy, who eclipsed both the exclusive 1,000-kill and 1,000-point plateaus during the 2010 season, was the only player to rank among the SEC's top-10 individually (all matches combined) in hitting percentage, kills per set and service aces per set. Murphy became just the 17th player in school history to reach 1,000 career kills and ranks ninth all-time in program history in career assists.
Murphy led the SEC with 0.40 service aces per set, while ranking fourth in hitting percentage with a .374 clip and ninth in kills per set with a team-leading 3.04. She also dished out 5.48 assists per set as part of the team's 6-2 offensive scheme and added 2.15 digs per set and 0.67 blocks per set for a squad-best 3.78 points per set. Murphy tallied seven triple-doubles during the 2010 campaign to give her a school-record 23 triple-dips for her career and added 23 double-doubles during the course of the season.
During the training sessions in Dallas, the coaching staff will divide the 36 players into three teams of 12 players to compete in the USA Volleyball Open National Championships. Last year, two A2 teams competed in the Open Division, producing a gold and bronze medal.
The UF program has now been the recipient of 38 USA Volleyball appointments since 2001.
For all of the latest information on Florida Volleyball, please log on to www.GatorZone.com/volleyball. Follow the Gators on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GatorZoneVB and Coach Mary Wise on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GatorMary.
2011 U.S. Women's National A2 Program Roster
Name (College, Position, Height, College Years Left, Hometown)
· Rachael Adams (Texas, MB, 6-2, 1, Cincinnati, Ohio)
· Cassandra Anderson (Florida, MB, 6-1, 1, Bakersfield, Calif.)
· Ashley Bannister (Texas, OH, 6-1, 3, Sugar Land, Texas)
· Brianne Barker (Oklahoma, S, 5-9, 1, Amarillo, Texas)
· Michelle Bartsch (Illinois, OPP, 6-4, 1, Maryville, Ill.)
· Kelsey Black (Texas A&M, OH, 5-11, 1, Amarillo, Texas)
· Alaina Bergsma (Oregon, OH, 6-3, 2, Chandler, Ariz.)
· Jennifer Bonilla (Illinois, L, 5-9, 3, Reseda, Calif.)
· Taylor Brauneis (Louisville, S, 5-10, 3, Crystal Lake, Ill.)
· Brittney Brimmage (Missouri, MB, 6-3, 1, East St. Louis, Ill.)
· Morgan Broekhuis (Nebraska, OPP, 6-5, 3, Colorado Springs, Colo.)
· Leslie Cikra (Tennessee, OPP, 6-4, 2, Chagrin Falls, Ohio)
· Carly Cramer (Purdue, L, 5-6, 2, Martinsville, Ind.)
· Kelli Fiegen (South Dakota State, MB, 6-3, 2, Parkston, S.D.)
· Ashley Frazier (Kentucky, OH, 6-1, 2, Oregon, Ohio)
· Natalie Hagglund (Southern California, L, 5-9, 3, Encinitas, Calif.)
· Cursty Jackson (Arizona, MB, 6-1, 1, Los Angeles, Calif.)
· Kristy Jaeckel (Florida, OH, 6-2, 1, Littleton, Colo.)
· Kayla Jeter (Tennessee, OH, 5-11, 1, Solon, Ohio)
· Correy Johnson (California, MB, 6-4, 2, Winter Park, Fla.)
· Madison Kingdon (Arizona, OH, 6-0, 4, Phoenix, Ariz.)
· Michelle Kocher (Texas, S, 5-10, 1, Wheaton, Ill.)
· Alexis Mathews (Michigan State, MB, 6-4, 3, Detroit, Mich.)
· Monique Mead (Georgia Tech, OPP, 5-9, 2, Newnan, Ga.)
· Kelly Murphy (Florida, S, 6-2, 1, Wilmington, Ill.)
· Tarah Murrey (California, OH, 6-3, 1, El Cerrito, Calif.)
· Lauren Plum (Oregon, S, 5-9, 3, Poway, Calif.)
· Ashley Rhoades (New Mexico, MB, 5-11, 1, Rio Rancho, N.M.)
· Kelsey Robinson (Tennessee, L, 6-2, 3, Bartlett, Ill.)
· Gwen Rucker (Louisville, MB, 6-2, 1, Lexington, Ky.)
· Francesca Silva (Notre Dame, L, 5-3, 1, Laguna Nigel, Calif.)
· Carly Thomas (Missouri State, S, 5-11, 3, Swansea, Ill.)
· Ariel Turner (Purdue, OH, 6-1, 2, Highlands Ranch, Colo.)
· Colleen Ward (Illinois, OH, 6-3, 1, Naperville, Ill.)
· Carli Weiler (Michigan State, L, 5-4, 1, Oak Lawn, Ill.)
· Allegra Wells (Mississippi, OPP, 6-1, 2, Garland, Texas)
