No. 9 Florida and No. 25 Florida State Prepare for O'Dome Showdown
Tuesday, August 30, 2011 | Volleyball
The No. 9 University of Florida volleyball team continues one of its oldest rivalries as the Gators take on No. 25 Florida State on Tuesday night at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. Opening serve is set for 7 p.m. and Gator fans can watch the action live on GatorVision Online and listen on the radio on Sportsradio 850 with Tom Collett and former All-SEC setter Missy Whittemore calling the matchup.
The Gators currently hold a 20-match winning streak dating back to Oct. 10, 1995 and haven't lost a match at home to the Seminoles since 1990. Florida has never lost to Florida State at home under Gator head coach Mary Wise, and hasn't lost to an in-state rival since 1994, the last loss to Florida State.
The Gators are led by senior outside hitter Stephanie Ferrell (Los Angeles, Calif.) who has 20 kills thus far and was recently named the Active Ankle SEC/ACC Challenge MVP. Also named to the All-Tournament Team were senior outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.), who turned in 19 kills on the weekend and a double-double against North Carolina, senior right-side setter Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.), who leads the team in hitting percentage with a .571 clip, and redshirt freshman libero Taylor Unroe (Muncie, Ind.), who had 19 digs on the weekend and a perfect serve reception average.
Florida seems to play some of its best volleyball against Florida State, as Jaeckel and Murphy have both had double-digit kills in three of their four meetings two double-doubles apiece, and sophomore setter Chanel Brown (Tempe, Ariz.) contributed a double-double in their epic showdown last winter.
The five returning starters (Anderson, Brown, Jaeckel, Murphy and Wiggs) have combined for 232 kills on a .346 hitting percentage, 23 service aces, 234 digs, 10 block solos and 65 block assists when playing Florida State. In last year's epic NCAA Tournament showdown, Jaeckel and Murphy had a combined 37 kills against the Seminoles while contributing a double-double and a triple-double, respectively.
Florida State was predicted to finish second in the Atlantic Coast Conference as selected by the ACC's 12 head coaches. Outside hitters Rachael Morgan and Visnja Djurdjevic were named to the preseason All-ACC team.
The Seminoles are led by Djurdjevic with 27 kills and 25 digs on the season and Jekaterina Stepanova, who contributed 26 kills and 31 digs en route to being named the Florida State Invitational MVP last weekend. With that performance, the Seminoles enter the AVCA Top-25 poll at No. 25.
Both Wise and Florida State head coach Chris Poole are entering their 25th seasons as a head coach. Wise is 715-132 (.844) in 25 seasons as a head coach (her 21st at Florida) and Poole is 627-253 (.713) in his 25 years, including his fourth year at Florida State.
MILESTONE WATCH
Against North Carolina on Saturday, August 27th, seniors Cassandra Anderson (Bakersfield, Calif.) and Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.) hit career milestones. Anderson became No. 10 on the Florida career block assists chart, and only needs two to surpass former Gator All-American Kisya Killingsworth, who sits at No. 9. Murphy entered the 2,000 assist club on Saturday, now having 2,009 for her career. She ranks ninth all-time at Florida. Murphy also needs just two kills to surpass former Gator All-American Amber McCray on the all-time kills list. McCray is currently 15th on the list.
