Let SEC Play Begin! No. 10 Gators at Auburn Friday, Host Ole Miss Sunday
Thursday, September 25, 2014 | Volleyball
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Coming off one of the most challenging non-conference schedules in the country -- and in the program's history -- the No. 10 Gators are ready to wipe the slate clean as the Orange and Blue enter the second portion of the 2014 campaign, Southeastern Conference play. Florida (6-3) kicks off the SEC schedule at Auburn (8-5) Friday in a 8 p.m. (ET) match-up before returning home Sunday as UF welcomes Ole Miss (14-0) to the Stephen C. O'Connell Center in the conference home opener.
First serve between the Gators and Rebels is slated for 1:30 p.m. Both matches will stream live on the SEC Network + platform via WatchESPN, while fans can also tune in to Tom Collett on ESPN 850 WRUF live and online.
Florida was 16-2 last season in league play and finished second in the conference standings. Under Wise, Florida is 358-18 (.952) in SEC play. The Gators own 20 SEC Championships, including 18 straight from 1991-2008.
Under Gator head coach Mary Wise, Florida has run its consecutive wins streak to 37 matches against both the Tigers and Rebels, and the Orange and Blue will look to open conference play 2-0 to make it an undefeated 38-0 under Wise against the two league foes. While Auburn opens league play at home 8-5 with several tough non-conference losses against Florida State and Ohio State, Ole Miss is off to its best start in program history at14-0. The Rebels take on South Carolina in Columbia Friday evening before making the trek to Gainesville for Sunday's match up. First year Gator assistant coach Shannon Wells will square off with the Rebels for the first time after coming to Florida from Ole Miss in January following four years in Oxford.
SEC OPENING WEEKEND BROADCAST INFORMATION
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| Match Time | Live Stream | Live Stats | Radio |
| No. 10 Florida | auburn | 8:00 p.m. | |||
| no. 10 florida | ole miss | 1:30 p.m. |
FLORIDA VERSUS AUBURN | FLORIDA MATCH NOTES
AUBURN | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26 | AUBURN ARENA | 8:00 p.m. ET
· 2014 Overall Record: 8-5
· Series Record: Florida leads, 41-1 (37-0 under Mary Wise)
• 3-set: 31-0; 4-set: 8-1; 5-set: 2-0
• Home: 19-0 | Away: 19-1 | Neutral: 3-0
· Last Time Out: Oct. 25, 2013 (at Gainesville) | W, 3-0 (25-21, 25-16, 25-12)
· Last Win at Auburn: Nov. 21, 2012 | W, 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-9, 25-20)
FLORIDA VERSUS OLE MISS | FLORIDA MATCH NOTES
OLE MISS | SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28 | O'DOME | 1:30 p.m. ET
· 2014 Overall Record: 14-0 (school-record start; Auburn plays at South Carolina 9/26)
· Series Record: Florida leads, 43-3 (37-0 under Mary Wise)
• 3-set: 38-0; 4-set: 2-1; 5-set: 3-2
• Home: 20-0 | Away: 20-3 | Neutral: 3-0
· Last Time Out: Sept. 29, 2013 (at Oxford) | W, 3-0 (25-13, 25-22, 25-12)
· Last Win at Gainesville: Oct. 12, 2012 | W, 3-0 (25-14, 25-12, 25-22)
LAST TIME OUT FOR THE GATORS
· The Florida volleyball team wrapped up the 2014 non-conference slate with a home weekend against Marquette and UCF in Gainesville Sept. 19 & 21. The Gators split 1-1, falling short to Marquette in five sets Friday, before defeating UCF 3-1 Sunday to enter the SEC portion of the schedule at 6-3 overall, including a pair of sweeps against ranked teams in USC and San Diego two weekends ago
· Freshman middle blocker Rhamat Alhassan (11 K, 10 B), who ranks third in the country with her .510 hitting efficiency, and junior setter Mackenzie Dagostino (43 A, 17 D), 28th in the nation with 11.06 assists per set, both notched their first career double-doubles despite Friday's loss, while the Gators had their second-best offensive performance of the season in the win against UCF with a .350 hitting efficiency
· Against the Knights, sophomore right side Alex Holston led the charge with 20 kills, and three others slammed down double-digit kills. Defensively, UF posted 11 blocks, while senior libero Holly Pole scooped up a career-tying 20 digs to stabilize UF's passing efforts
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