No. 7 Gators Open the 2011 Southeastern Conference Slate in Starkville
Thursday, September 15, 2011 | Volleyball
The No. 7 Florida volleyball team begins its Southeastern Conference title defense as the Gators begin SEC play at Mississippi State on Friday evening at Newell-Grissom Building. Opening serve for the Gators and the Bulldogs is at 8 p.m. EST and fans can listen in on WRUF-FM 103.7 The Gator with Cory Stephens calling the action.
Florida will look to take its 21st consecutive Southeastern Conference opener, as the Gators have claimed 20 straight Southeastern Conference lid-lifters, 19 of those coming under head coach Mary Wise, including 10 sweeps. The Gators last opened SEC play against the Bulldogs in 2005, with Florida taking a four-set victory at Newell-Grissom.
Florida is coming off a strong showing at the Nike Volleyball Big Four Classic, as the Gators first took down then-No. 10 Texas in five sets to set up a meeting with No. 3 Stanford in the final. The Orange and Blue rallied from two sets down to force a fifth and decisive set, but it wasn't enough as the host Cardinal took the title, 3-2.
The Gators were led by All-Tournament Team selections Kristy Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.) and Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.). Jaeckel had 35 kills on the weekend, including registering her 1,000th kill against Texas on the first evening in Palo Alto. Murphy had 26 kills, 59 assists and 19 digs on the weekend, including her 24th career triple-double against Stanford, notching 14 kills, 29 assists and 10 digs.
Junior middle blocker Betsy Smith (Atlanta, Ga.) led Florida with 12 total blocks on the weekend, including a career-high eight stuffs against No. 10 Texas, ranking her seventh in the SEC in blocks with 1.00/set. Redshirt freshman libero Taylor Unroe (Muncie, Ind.) played unbelievably in her first matches against top-20 competition, registering 59 digs over three matches, including a career-high 22 against the No. 3 Cardinal.
One of the biggest performances from the Gators came courtesy of junior opposite hitter Tangerine Wiggs (Seattle, Wash.), who more than doubled her kill output in Florida's three matches last week, including 18 kills against No. 3 Stanford. Wiggs ranks third in the SEC in hitting efficiency, operating on a .456 hitting clip.
The Gators lead the SEC in opponent hitting percentage (.118) and rank second in hitting percentage (.275) and service aces (1.76/set). Florida is also third in blocks with 2.42/set. Senior right-side/setter Murphy is second in the conference in service aces, averaging .52/set this fall, while posting a .339 hitting percentage, good for seventh in the SEC. Murphy also owns the first triple-double of 2011, with 12 kills, 10 digs and 17 assists against Florida State on August 30th. Jaeckel is ninth in the SEC in kills (3.06/set) and 10th in points with 3.69/set.
The Gators are the defending Southeastern Conference Champions and have won 19 SEC titles, including 18 consecutive from 1991-2008. Florida won the first undefeated SEC title since changing to a double round robin format in 2006. The Gators are 38-0 all-time against the Bulldogs, including registering 34 3-set sweeps.
The Bulldogs enter their third season under head coach Jenny Hazelwood, a four-time starting setter for MSU in the late 90s. Hazelwood compiled an 11-20 record last season and the Bulldogs return seven letterwinners and four starters from a year ago.
Mississippi State is 5-4 on the season after capturing the MCM Elegante' Invtiational title in Beaumont, Texas this past weekend. MSU is led by outside hitter Caitlin Rance, who hit .285 with 25 digs and eight blocks en route to being named the most valuable player in the MCM Elegante' Invitational at Lamar University. Rance had 66 kills on the weekend and was named to CVU.com's nation's best performers list. Sophomore setter Paris Perret is coming off a stellar freshman campaign that saw her named to the SEC All-Freshman Team after registering 1,024 assists in 2010.
Senior middle blocker Hannah Wilkinson leads the SEC in hitting percentage (.455), while Rance is second in the SEC in kills (4.82/set) and points (5.38/set) and freshman middle blocker Lainey Wyman is second in the conference with 1.21 blocks/set.
