No. 4 Gators Open 2015 Campaign in DMV, Home of All-Americans Alhassan, Antwi & Holston
Saturday, August 29, 2015 | Volleyball
HARRISONBURG, Va. -- Three Florida volleyball All-Americans in Rhamat Alhassan, Simone Antwi and Alex Holston, along with their Gator teammates, will debut the 2015 season in front of family and friends in the DC area. The defending SEC Champions and preseason No. 4 Gators open the campaign with James Madison University Saturday night in Harrisonburg, Va., at Sinclair Gymnasium before taking on American University in Washington, D.C., in a 4 p.m. tilt Sunday at Bender Arena.
Florida returns to write a whole new story for 2015 with 12 returning letterwinners from a year ago, including all of its point scorers, while the Gators will rely on the senior leadership and veteran experience of Antwi, outside hitters Gabby Mallette and éiva Recek, setter Mackenzie Dagostino and libero Nikki O'Rourke.
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The Orange and Blue return four-of-four All-Americans from 2014 -- add Dagostino to the DMV trio, including the SEC Freshman of the Year in Alhassan and SEC Player of the Year in Holston, a sophomore and junior, respectively. Both Alhassan and Holston are products of Metro American Volleyball in the DC area, while Antwi played for Virginia Elite prior to joining the Gator Nation.
UF's weekend tilt in DC marks the first of seven road matches to open the 2015 campaign for the Gators, who will be tested early and often with three ranked opponents in the stretch, which includes the DC duo, the VERT Challenge in Austin, Texas, and the Outrigger Resorts Volleyball Challenge in Honolulu.
The meeting between UF and JMU will be the first between the two programs, while American and Florida will meet for the third time, the last being 2003. The Gators are 2-0 all-time against the Eagles and have won one match each in Gainesville and DC, respectively.
UF, which has made 24 consecutive NCAA Tournament runs, has 21 SEC titles all-time, all under 25th year head coach Mary Wise, including 18 straight from 1991-2008. The Gators also own 13 undefeated SEC seasons all-time in program history after running the table with a flawless 18-0 in conference play last year ('92, '93, '95, '96, '97, '98, '99, '00, '01, '02, '03, '10, '14).
FLORIDA AT JAMES MADISON BROADCAST INFORMATION
James Madison University (Aug. 29)
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
TV: Live Stream
Radio: ESPN Gainesville
Live Stats: JMU Stats
UF | JMU SERIES HISTORY
· 2014 Record: 17-14, 8-8 (Colonial Athletic Association)
· Series Record: The Gators and Dukes have not played in the history of the two programs
FLORIDA AT AMERICAN BROADCAST INFORMATION
American University (Aug. 30)
Time: 4:00 p.m. ET
Live Stream: Patriot League Network
Radio: ESPN Gainesville
Live Stats: American Stats
UF | AMERICAN SERIES HISTORY
· 2014 Record: 26-7, 15-1 (Patriot League)
· Series Record: Florida leads, 2-0 (2-0 under Mary Wise)
· 3-set: 2-0; 4-set: 0-0; 5-set: 0-0
· Home: 1-0 | Away: 1-0 | Neutral: 0-0
· Last Time Out: Aug. 29, 2003 at Gainesville | W, 3-0 (30-14, 30-21, 30-16)
· Last Time Out at D.C.: Sept. 22, 2002 | W, 3-0 (30-17, 30-11, 30-18)
FLORIDA STORYLINES AND NOTABLES | 2014 Year In Review
· Entering the 2015 season, Florida volleyball stands at an all-time program record of 898-188 (.827). With wins at James Madison and American, the Gators would reach 900 wins in school history
· Last season, Florida ranked second in the nation in hitting efficiency as a team (.319) behind Rhamat Alhassan's nation-leading .458, marking the third straight year a Gator has led the NCAA in hitting percentage (2012 & 2013 Chloe Mann)
· Florida led the SEC in 2014 in aces per set (1.53), assists per set (13.11), hitting percentage (.319), opponent hitting percentage (.172) and was second in blocks per set (2.37), kills per set (14.22) and service aces (174) last year
· The Gators have just one true freshman in middle blocker Taelor Kellum, who graduated high school early and enrolled at UF in January. Redshirt freshman defensive specialist Lindsey Rogers redshirted her inaugural year on campus, and fellow redshirt freshman setter Allie Monserez, sister of 2015 Gator grad and defensive specialist Maddy Monserez, will sit this season after transferring to Florida from South Carolina
· A staggering seven Gators played international volleyball in summer 2015:
o USA Volleyball National Teams: Rhamat Alhassan, Mackenzie Dagostino, Alex Holston, Carli Snyder, Mary Wise (Coach) -- Alhassan/Snyder won gold in the European Global Challenge in Croatia on the USA Junior National Team, Dagostino played with the Collegiate National Team in China and Holston played on Wise's World University Games squad for USA
o Abby Detering (Bring It Promotions) -- played in Europe in same tournament as USA Volleyball Junior National Team on the BIP Midwest U22 Team (European Global Challenge)
o éiva Recek: Slovenia National Team, singlehandedly guided Slovenia to the European Championships for the first time EVER with a 24-point match against France
o Sha?nah Joseph: Canada National team, called up to the Canada 'A' National Team and played in the Pan American Cup in Peru
· UF has won the SEC 21 of the last 24 years, all under Mary Wise
· Florida owns 13 undefeated SEC seasons all-time in program history, with the last coming in 2014 (18-0) ('92, '93, '95, '96, '97, '98, '99, '00, '01, '02, '03, '10, '14)
· RS Senior Simone Antwi's master's degree marks the third straight year that the Gators will have a 'grandma' on the team -- a player that will be getting her undergrad and master's all while playing volleyball (Chloe Mann 2013, Taylor Unroe 2014 & Simone 2015)
· Florida owns 24 consecutive 25-win seasons
· The Gators have additionally made 24 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, and 25 tourney runs all-time in program history
· UF boasts 34 All-Americans and 84 All-America honors all-time
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