No. 9 Gators Ready for SEC Road Swing at LSU, Mississippi State
Wednesday, October 1, 2014 | Volleyball
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- After kicking off the 2014 SEC schedule an undefeated 2-0 with sweeps at Auburn and against Ole Miss, the No. 9 Gators will hit the road for a two-match road swing at LSU and Mississippi State Oct. 3 & 5. Both of Florida's matches this weekend will air live on the SEC Network.
First serve between the Gators and Tigers is slated for 7 p.m. (ET) from the Maravich Center in Baton Rouge, while the Gators and Bulldogs will take to the court at 2 p.m. (ET) Sunday in the Newell-Grissom Building to wrap up the weekend. Gator fans can also tune in to Tom Collett on ESPN 850 WRUF live and online for coverage of the 8-3 Florida squad.
Both LSU and Mississippi State have started their respective SEC schedules 0-2, LSU with a pair of 3-1 losses versus Kentucky and at Alabama, while the Bulldogs lost in straight sets on the road at Missouri and Arkansas in the opening weekend of conference play.
The Orange and Blue are undefeated against the Bulldogs, including a 21-0 mark in Starkville, while the Gators lead the series with the Tigers, 37-13, including 34-5 under head coach Mary Wise. Florida has won seven straight against LSU the last four years after the Tigers took both meetings in 2009. UF had won 26 consecutive before 2009 after going 1-3 against LSU Wise's first year at the helm of the program in 1991. UF is 14-6 all-time in Baton Rouge in Tiger territory.
Florida was 16-2 last season in league play and finished second in the conference standings. Under Wise, Florida is 360-18 (.952) in SEC play. The Gators own 20 SEC Championships, including 18 straight from 1991-2008.
LSU & MISSISSIPPI STATE BROADCAST INFORMATION
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| Match Time | tv | Live Stats | Radio |
| No. 9 Florida | LSU | 7:00 p.m. | |||
| no. 9 Florida | mSU | 2:00 p.m. |
FLORIDA AT LSU | FLORIDA MATCH NOTES
LSU | FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5 | MARAVICH CENTER | 7:00 p.m. ET
· 2014 Overall Record: 5-6, 0-2 SEC
· Series Record: Florida leads, 37-13 (34-5 under Mary Wise)
• 3-set: 20-7; 4-set: 13-6; 5-set: 4-0
• Home: 19-5 | Away: 14-6 | Neutral: 4-2
· Last Time Out: Nov. 22, 2013 at Gainesville | W, 3-0 (25-26, 25-19, 25-20)
· Last Win at Baton Rouge: Nov. 1, 2013 | W, 3-1 (25-19, 25-20, 23-25, 25-16)
FLORIDA AT MISSISSIPPI STATE | FLORIDA MATCH NOTES
MISSISSIPPI STATE | SUNDAY, OCTOBER 5 | NEWELL-GRISSOM BUILDING | 2:00 p.m. ET
· 2014 Overall Record: 5-12, 0-2 SEC
· Series Record: Florida leads, 43-0 (34-0 under Mary Wise)
• 3-set: 40-0; 4-set: 3-0; 5-set: 0-0
• Home: 20-0 | Away: 21-0 | Neutral: 2-0
· Last Time Out: Sept. 27, 2013 at Starkville | W, 3-0 (25-15, 25-15, 25-11)
· Last Win at Starkville: see above, the Gators visited the Bulldogs in Starkville in the only meeting last season
RECAPPING THE FIRST WEEKEND OF SEC PLAY FOR THE GATORS
· WATCH: Head Coach Mary Wise Monday Press Conference
· The Gators opened Southeastern Conference play 2-0 following a split weekend with two straight-set sweeps, first at Auburn (25-14, 25-19, 25-19) and then at home against Ole Miss (25-13, 25-15, 25-19) in UF's SEC home opener. On Friday, it was a combination of junior setter Mackenzie Dagostino's distribution to sophomore right side Alex Holston and freshman middle Rhamat Alhassan, as the duo combined for 25 of Florida's 43 kills in the three-set affair, paired with senior and SEC Defensive Player of the Week Holly Pole's stabilizing back row play that helped UF pump out a .340 attack percentage
· Sunday, junior middle blocker Simone Antwi had a career match after turning in a .769 hitting efficiency following 11 kills on 13 swings with just one error. The Gators hit .442 in the match against the Rebels, their best offensive output in conference play since last year at Alabama in October. Six Florida players registered a .300 hitting efficiency or above against Ole Miss. In its first two league matches, UF has limited both opponents to operate under a .200 clip, including a .096 efficiency for Auburn and .197 for Ole Miss. Florida remains undefeated against both the Tigers and Rebels under head coach Mary Wise. Friday's SEC opener made Wise an undefeated 24-0 in conference debuts, each year of her tenure at the helm of the Florida program
NOTABLE NUMBERS ENTERING THE LSU, MISSISSIPPI STATE ROAD SWING
· 26: kills for Ole Miss, the second-lowest for a Gator opponent this season (lowest: Georgia Southern – 20)
· 25: kills between sophomore right side Alex Holston (15) and freshman middle Rhamat Alhassan (10), against Auburn, over half of UF's 43 kills. Holston and Alhassan also had eight blocks combined. Holston returned to lead all scorers Sunday against Ole Miss with 11 kills and 12.5 points
· 11: kills for Simone Antwi on 13 attacks against the Rebels Sunday, with just one error, the fifth double-digit kill match of the 2014 season for Antwi. Her .769 clip was a career-high percentage, besting her .706 performance against Stanford last season
· 9: points off junior setter Mackenzie Dagostino's serve in the first set alone against Ole Miss, including six straight to take the Gators up 7-1 early in set one. Dagostino then returned and served UF's first four points in set two against Ole Miss
· 6: straight points served by senior Holly Pole in the middle of the third set at Auburn, which took the Gators from an 11-11 tie to a 17-11 advantage. Pole also led UF's defensive efforts Sunday with her seventh straight double-digit digs performance (10). Pole also had a 1.000 serving percentage for the third time this season with 11 serves, no errors and one service ace
· 6: service aces for Florida against Ole Miss, UF's fifth match this year with six or more aces. The Gators were led by Dagostino's four
· .600: Alhassan's hitting efficiency in her SEC debut against Auburn behind 10 kills and five blocks. Alhassan has hit .600 or higher in five of Florida's 10 matches this season
· .096: Auburn's hitting efficiency for the match, the second-lowest for a Gator opponent since UF's season-opener against Georgia Southern (-.128). Sunday, Ole Miss became the sixth opponent this season that UF has forced to operate below a .200 hitting efficiency (.197) including both SEC opponents so far
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