Gator Volleyball Notebook ? August 17th, 2011
Thursday, August 18, 2011 | Volleyball
The Florida volleyball team participated in its annual preseason media day on Wednesday. All 15 Gators and head coach Mary Wise spoke to the media at the event.
Every player was interviewed throughout the event and provided interesting sound bites on the upcoming season, their summer activities and having the opportunity for the entire team to stay on campus for Summer B.
According to the players, someone to look out for is redshirt freshman Taylor Unroe (Muncie, Ind.), who received a medical redshirt after breaking a bone in her ankle. Junior Tangerine Wiggs (Seattle, Wash.) said that “she's definitely someone that people haven't seen play before. She's a huge part of our team and she really makes us play better every time we're in the gym.”
Sophomore Chanel Brown (Tempe, Ariz.), a 2010 SEC All-Freshman Team selection, notes that having a year under her belt is “more comfortable… just knowing the offense and knowing the tempo of the game.”
“I just have so much confidence and backup from my team,” she added. “We all support each other no matter what.”
Seniors Kristy Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.) and Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.) received Preseason All-SEC honors on Tuesday, but were quick to return the focus to the team.
“I think that Kelly and I getting honors early on show that, as a team, any individual honor just reflects back on the team… because you really can't do it by yourself,” Jaeckel said.
Murphy, who played with Jaeckel and fellow senior Cassandra Anderson (Bakersfield, Calif.) on the USA A2 Team this summer, said the experience of playing with the A2 team was “a lot of fun… You get to play with all the girls that you read about and all of the best players in the country, so I think it helped a lot in terms of experience.”
All of the Gators spoke about Fan Day, coming up this Saturday from 3-6pm. The annual Orange and Blue Scrimmage is held within Fan Day this year, which has the Gators incredibly excited to play their yearly scrimmage in front of so much of the Gator Nation.
Junior Sundai Weston (Naples, Fla.) said that the opportunity to have a joint Fan Day with football is “exciting… We know that Gator fans are the best in the nation, so the fact that they're going to get two teams for the 'price of one' is great. I'm really excited about the opportunity to maybe have people that aren't as knowledgeable about volleyball, or who haven't been to a game before, that will come in for the football team. They'll have the opportunity to be there and get to see the volleyball team in action. Hopefully we'll win some new fans that day.”
QUOTABLES AND NOTABLES FROM FLORIDA VOLLEYBALL MEDIA DAY
Cassandra Anderson: Her personal mission is to make it past the Sweet Sixteen: “The past three years we've made it to the Sweet Sixteen, and of course I would love to win the SEC and beyond that. I want us to have our best volleyball at the end of the season.”
Simone Antwi: Aspires to open her own physical therapy practice, but her dream job would be to be a music producer.
Chanel Brown: Has taken over No. 5 after wearing No. 15 her freshman season. Has been No. 5 her entire life because of the relation to the perfume with the same moniker.
Stephanie Ferrell: Has been training hard in the offseason with strength and conditioning coach Matt DeLancey, staying through Summer A and Summer B to “get some extra work in.”
Elissa Hausmann: Counts last year's loss to Purdue as a “huge motivator… Matt (DeLancey), is constantly looking back at that loss to Purdue and always trying to make us hungry again. Mary's doing the same thing, especially with a defensive mindset, never letting a ball drop and just always giving your all for every point because you never know when it's going to end.”
Kristy Jaeckel: Interned with the O'Connell Center during the winter and spring, working men's and women's basketball games and gymnastics meets. Nickname on the team is “Grandma” for being the oldest player.
Chloe Mann: Spent a month in France this summer meeting her mom's side of the family for the first time. Picked up a good amount of French while she was there, despite never having been out of the country before.
Madison Monserez: From the same volleyball club (Orlando Volleyball Academy) as former Gator greats Sherri Williams, Callie Rivers and Erin Fleming. Says she is most looking forward to “competing. This team loves to play. That's one thing I've noticed, they love to play. They love to play hard and they love to go at it. I love being in that atmosphere.”
Kelly Murphy: After only Callie Rivers mentioning a NCAA Championship at Media Day a year ago, Murphy says the entire team is on that page: “Ever since I came here I wanted to go to a Final Four and win the National Championship and I think this team, this year, is all on the same page. I think in the offseason, we've been working really hard and I think if we put everything we have all together at the right times, that we can achieve those goals.”
Holly Pole: Having enrolled early at Florida, Pole has had so much experience with the team this spring that Wise hardly counts her as a freshman. Pole has dreamed about playing volleyball at Florida her entire life and now dreams about going to law school after her volleyball career.
Noami Santos-Lamb: Chose to attend Florida not only for the volleyball team, but also for UF's art program, Noami (pronounced No-ahh-mee) enjoys drawing and painting in her spare time. Also holds the high jump record at her high school in Puerto Rico, despite never truly training for the event.
Betsy Smith: When asked what specific opponent she looks forward to playing this season, Betsy said, “I think we're just ready to go out and play, to play someone besides ourselves is going to be really exciting. First on the list is Boston College.”
Taylor Unroe: Having come back from a redshirt year was difficult, but Taylor felt more prepared for this preseason, despite having to stand and watch. “With the help of Mary and my teammates, it helped me for this year because I knew what I was coming into and I got to see from the outside in.”
Sundai Weston: Sundai's family had an interesting summer, as her younger sister, Casey, was a finalist on NBC's “The Voice”. You can check out her official page on NBC and her Facebook fan page.
Tangerine Wiggs: Tange is inspired by Wise's excitement about this season. “She always is really competitive and really energetic in practice, and so she really just wants us to do the right things to succeed. She has so much confidence and she knows how good we can be. Each day in practice, we come in and make her proud and try to be the players she knows we can be.”
