Senior right side and four-time AVCA All-American Alex Holston is the only member of the 2016 Gators unable to return next season.
Gators Extend Historic AVCA Rankings Streak
Tuesday, December 20, 2016 | Volleyball
Florida is the second program in history to finish the season in the top 15 for more than 20 consecutive seasons
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The American Volleyball Coaches Association released its final Division I Coaches Poll on Monday (Dec. 19) afternoon, and the Gators ended the season ranked No. 15, marking their 21st consecutive top-15 finish.
Florida's current streak of top-15 finishes, which dates back to 1996, is the second-longest in the poll's history. Nebraska holds the all-time record for consecutive years in the final top 15, having done so each of the past 33 seasons.
Aside from Nebraska, only one other program since 1982, when the AVCA first published the poll, has finished in the top 15 for more than 15 consecutive campaigns: Stanford, which did it 18 straight times from 1982-99. The Cardinal also own the nation's third-longest active streak (16).
This is the 25th time since 1991, head coach Mary Wise's first year at UF, the Gators finished in the top 15. Only Nebraska (26) and Stanford (25) have been as successful during that span. And only Penn State (23), UCLA (21), and USC (21) have finished in the top 15 at least 20 times in the last 26 seasons.
Prior to bowing out of this year's NCAA Tournament, Florida (27-4, 16-2 SEC) won a share of its 22nd Southeastern Conference title and posted its 26th consecutive 25-win season.
The Gators also led the nation with a .338 hitting percentage, breaking the all-time school record and tying the fifth-highest clip by a Division I team since 2008, when the current 25-point scoring format was adopted.
OTHER 2016 FLORIDA VOLLEYBALL NOTABLES
FOLLOW FLORIDA VOLLEYBALL
FloridaGators.com
Twitter
Instagram
Coach Mary Wise on Twitter | Coach Mary Wise on Instagram
Facebook
Florida's current streak of top-15 finishes, which dates back to 1996, is the second-longest in the poll's history. Nebraska holds the all-time record for consecutive years in the final top 15, having done so each of the past 33 seasons.
Aside from Nebraska, only one other program since 1982, when the AVCA first published the poll, has finished in the top 15 for more than 15 consecutive campaigns: Stanford, which did it 18 straight times from 1982-99. The Cardinal also own the nation's third-longest active streak (16).
This is the 25th time since 1991, head coach Mary Wise's first year at UF, the Gators finished in the top 15. Only Nebraska (26) and Stanford (25) have been as successful during that span. And only Penn State (23), UCLA (21), and USC (21) have finished in the top 15 at least 20 times in the last 26 seasons.
Prior to bowing out of this year's NCAA Tournament, Florida (27-4, 16-2 SEC) won a share of its 22nd Southeastern Conference title and posted its 26th consecutive 25-win season.
The Gators also led the nation with a .338 hitting percentage, breaking the all-time school record and tying the fifth-highest clip by a Division I team since 2008, when the current 25-point scoring format was adopted.
OTHER 2016 FLORIDA VOLLEYBALL NOTABLES
- Five Gators earned AVCA All-America accolades, the second-most honorees of any Division I program this year.
- UF tied the fourth-longest NCAA Tournament appearance streak in Division I history (26).
- Florida and Nebraska were the only teams in the nation to end the year ranked in the top 25 in five major statistical categories: hitting percentage (first, .338), assists per set (fourth, 13.72), kills per set (eighth, 14.45), blocks per set (25th, 2.62), opponent hitting percentage (25th, .168).
- This season marked the third time in history UF led the nation in hitting percentage, joining the 2011 and 2015 Gators as the only others to do so.
- This year was also the first time since 2008-09 the same program led the nation in hitting percentage in consecutive seasons.
- UF joined the 2014 Penn State Nittany Lions as the only other team since 2010 to end the year with a hitting percentage above .320 and an opponent hitting percentage below .170.
- Alex Holston ended her career ranked fifth in kills (1,506) and points (1,712), eighth in attacks (3,225), and ninth in kills per set (3.40) in UF's career record book.
- Rhamat Alhassan was one of two players to end the year ranked in the top 20 in both hitting percentage (ninth, .416) and blocks per set (11th, 1.45).
- Alhassan was the only player ranked in the top 15 in both those categories a year ago, making her the second player since 2010 (Katie Slay, Penn State) to finish in the top 15 of both categories multiple times.
- Alhassan's .416 clip and 1.45 blocks per set were both the seventh-highest single-season averages in UF history.
- Allie Monserez's nation-leading 12.36 assists per set marked the highest single-season average by a Gator since Angie McGinnis averaged 13.88 in 2007, the final year of the 30-point scoring format.
- Monserez is just the second player in the last three seasons to average more than 12.20 assists per set, with SMU's Avery Acker (12.45 in 2015) being the other.
- Monserez also joined Missouri's Molly Kreklow (2013) as the only other SEC player in history to lead the nation in assists per set.
- Caroline Knop's 4.37 digs per set marked the seventh-highest single-season average in school history.
FOLLOW FLORIDA VOLLEYBALL
FloridaGators.com
Coach Mary Wise on Twitter | Coach Mary Wise on Instagram
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Volleyball
RS
/ Volleyball
L
/ Volleyball
S
/ VolleyballFlorida Volleyball | in our feels
Saturday, January 24
Florida Volleyball | Top 5 Digs from the 2025 Season
Tuesday, December 23
Florida Volleyball | Top 5 Plays from the NCAA Tournament
Saturday, December 13
Florida Volleyball | Post-Match Press Conference | SMU [NCAAT]
Sunday, December 07
