Florida-Auburn Volleyball Match Moved Back to Student Activities Center
Friday, September 30, 2011 | Volleyball
Due to unforeseen facility issues, Friday's volleyball match between No. 13 Florida and Auburn will be played in the Student Activities Center instead of Auburn Arena. Opening serve is still set for 8 p.m. ET (7 p.m. CT) on Friday evening. Gator fans can tune into Sportsradio 850 with Cory Stephens on the call. Fans traveling for the match should enter the Student Act through the south entrance off Biggio Drive.
The Gators lead the SEC in hitting percentage (.292), good for sixth in the country, and are second in service aces (1.67/set), which ranks 25th in the NCAA. Lowe's Senior CLASS Award candidate Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.) is second in the SEC and 22nd in the NCAA in service aces, averaging .49/set this fall, while posting a .343 hitting percentage, good for fifth in the SEC. Junior right-side Tangerine Wiggs (Seattle, Wash.) is fourth in the conference in hitting percentage with a .347 hitting clip, while senior outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel (Littleton, Ill.) is eighth in the SEC in kills with 3.25/set and ranks seventh in points with 3.84/set. Redshirt freshman libero Taylor Unroe (Muncie, Ind.) is seventh in the SEC in digs with 3.69/set and eighth in service aces with .31/set. Betsy Smith (Atlanta, Ga.) is sixth in the SEC with 1.02 blocks/set.
The Auburn Tigers (8-6, 2-2 SEC) remained perfect at home so far this season with a pair of 3-0 victories over archrival Alabama on Friday night and SEC West nemesis Ole Miss on Sunday. Friday's win over Alabama (25-22, 25-13, 25-23) was the Tigers' fourth straight in the series and came before a crowd of 1,037 fans at the Student Activities Center, the third-largest home crowd in Auburn volleyball history.
Senior outside hitter Kelly Fidero was the offensive key for Auburn over the weekend, amassing 29 kills (4.83/set), including an Auburn season-high 15 against the Rebels. She also hit at a .490 clip for the week with just five errors on 49 attack attempts. Sophomore setter Chelsea Wintzinger had one of her best weekends as a Tiger, compiling 64 assists (10.67/set) while also scoring a career-high six kills in both matches during the week. Wintzinger is ninth in the SEC in assists, averaging 6.21/set. Junior Sarah Bullock earned her second double-double of the season on Friday with 10 kills and 13 digs against Alabama; she fell one dig shy of another against Ole Miss with nine digs to go along with 10 kills.
The Tigers' Camila Jersonsky is third in the SEC and 45th in the country in hitting percentage (.363) and Chloe Rowand ranks fourth in the SEC in blocks with 1.03/set. Cersonsky's .632 hitting performance against Austin Peay in early September ranks in the top-5 in the SEC this season.
