No. 4 Gators Head to Alabama, Auburn

Friday, October 20

Tuscaloosa, AL

8 PM

Florida Gators

Alabama

Florida is 4-0 in matches played away from Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center this year.

No. 4 Gators Head to Alabama, Auburn

Thursday, October 19, 2017 | Volleyball

This is the first of two times this year the Gators will play consecutive road matches

By: Zach Dirlam

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida, which fell to No. 4 in this week's rankings following its first loss of the year, hits the road for only the fourth time this season. The Gators will face Alabama Friday night and Auburn Sunday afternoon, marking the first time this year they play consecutive road matches.

Florida (14-1, 6-1 SEC) swept Ole Miss, but fell in four sets to then-No. 8 Kentucky last week, dropping them into second place in the SEC standings.

Still, the Gators enter this week as one of two teams in the nation (Nebraska being the other) with multiple wins over teams currently ranked sixth or higher in the RPI.

Also last week, Rhamat Alhassan had a monster two-match stretch, totaling 36 points, 30 kills, and 11 blocks in seven sets. Alhassan had just one error in her 48 attempts last week, good for a .604 hitting percentage. She is one of three players in the nation ranked in the top 15 nationally in both blocks per set and hitting percentage.

BROADCAST INFORMATION | Match Notes
Friday, Oct. 20 at Alabama | 8 p.m. ET
Streaming: SEC Network + (via Watch ESPN) | Radio: Audio Stream [Tom Collett] (also available via ESPN Gainesville 98.1 FM / 850 AM) | Live Stats

Sunday, Oct. 22 at Auburn | 2:30 p.m. ET
Streaming: SEC Network + (via Watch ESPN) | Radio: Audio Stream [Tom Collett] (also available via ESPN Gainesville 98.1 FM / 850 AM) | Live Stats

NOTABLE NEWS & NUMBERS (national stat rankings updated through Oct. 17)

Florida is one of five teams in the nation with four wins in top-20 matchups this season (Minnesota, Nebraska, Northern Iowa, USC)
Florida is one of two teams (Wisconsin) with two players ranked inside the top 15 nationally in hitting percentage
The Gators rank fifth nationally in blocks per set (3.11), and they have 10-plus blocks in 12 of their 15 matches
Florida has held 13 of its first 15 opponents under a .185 hitting percentage
Rhamat Alhassan ranks second nationally in blocks per set (1.70) and tied for 13th in hitting percentage (.420)
Alhassan's season hitting percentage climbed from .387 to .420 after her outstanding pair of matches last week
Rachael Kramer ranks 12th nationally and second the SEC in hitting percentage (.426)
Kramer is coming off her seventh match of the year with at least 10 kills; she only had five such matches as a freshman
Carli Snyder ranks eighth the nation and leads the SEC in service aces per set (0.53)
Cheyenne Huskey ranks fifth in the SEC and tied for 80th nationally in blocks per set (1.18)
- Huskey is the only setter ranked higher than 112th nationally

SCOUTING THE CRIMSON TIDE
Alabama (14-7, 2-5 SEC) | 2016 synopsis: 20-11 overall, 9-9 SEC

Series History: Florida leads, 43-0 (41-0 under Mary Wise)
3-set: 39-0 | 4-set: 4-0 | 5-set: 0-0
Home: 20-0 | Away: 20-0 | Neutral: 3-0
Last Time Out: Nov. 13, 2016 in Gainesville à W, 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-12)

SCOUTING THE TIGERS
Auburn (11-7, 4-5 SEC) | 2016 synopsis: 15-16 overall, 9-9 SEC

Series History: Florida leads, 45-2 (41-1 under Mary Wise)
3-set: 34-0 | 4-set: 9-1 | 5-set: 2-1
Home: 22-0 | Away: 20-2 | Neutral: 3-0
Last Time Out: Nov. 23, 2016 in Gainesville à W, 3-1 (25-21, 22-25, 25-19, 25-14)