Senior Lindsey Rogers, No. 25, joins her teammates to celebrate after Florida's victory over Stanford in the NCAA semifinals. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)
Gators Notebook: Family Matters, Red Tide, More Tidbits
Saturday, December 16, 2017 | Volleyball, Scott Carter
The Gators face Nebraska tonight at 9 (ESPN2) for the national championship.
Four of those seniors -- Rhamat Alhassan, Shainah Joseph, Caroline Knop and Carli Snyder -- are starters who come from varied backgrounds and offer unique skills on the court.
Lindsey Rogers is the fifth member of the group. She rarely plays. Still, the experience of making it to the Final Four is no-less-meaningful for Rogers, who grew up in Tallahassee and is a defensive specialist for the Gators.
In reality, Rogers' story is one of the team's most inspiring.
Her father, Steve Rogers, is undergoing treatment for Stage 4 lung cancer, a disease that started in his pancreas 16 years ago and stayed away for many years. Andrew Huang shared the family's story in an article recently in the Independent Florida Alligator.
A former walk-on punter at Florida, Steve Rogers and his wife, Wendy, who played softball at Florida State and is also a cancer survivor, will be at the Sprint Center tonight when the Gators face Nebraska.
Their daughter did not play in Thursday's win over Stanford and likely won't play against the Cornhuskers. That is secondary. What matters is they are together and sharing a way of life centered around Lindsey's career coming to a close.
"They are great supportive parents,'' Rogers said. "They have traveled with us since freshman year. Even though I was redshirted, they came when we made it out to the Elite Eight at Iowa State [in 2014]. They are always there. They never miss the big games. It's really fun to have them here and see them after the game and give them a big hug."
Rogers isn't the only member of Florida's traveling party dealing with a loved one battling cancer. Gators radio play-by-play voice Tom Collett has gotten to know Steve Rogers over the years.
Their talks often include not only Steve's health updates, but those of Collett's son, William, who has been undergoing treatment for leukemia.
Steve and Wendy can relate to the impact the disease has on family.
"Great people," Collett said. "When I see him, all he asks me about is my son. He's that kind of guy. He shared with me some of the treatments and what he's been going through. He's been through it multiple times."
Earlier this season, Gators coach Mary Wise offered Collett an opportunity to take daughter Magen on Florida's road trip to Ole Miss. Magen was turning 9 and with her brother often the center of attention due to his illness, the trip offered a nice break from the daily rigors.
"It was just something I will never forget,'' Collett said. "That was a big deal for her."
Same for 22-year-old Lindsey to have her dad here for the national championship.
"It's really special and means a lot,'' she said.
*****
CROWD CONTROL
The Gators will face the same scenario on Saturday the UF baseball team encountered in Omaha in June, when it faced LSU for the national title.
They won't see many friendly faces in the crowd.
Nebraska fans are out in full force in Kansas City and of the more than 18,000 fans expected at the Sprint Center tonight, only a fraction will be decked in orange and blue. The Cornhuskers lead the nation in home attendance at more than 8,000 per game and their fans travel in flocks.
Wise joked about it being a "road crowd" following Thursday's win over Stanford. The disparity isn't ideal for the Gators, but it is for the sport according to Wise.
"This is so good for women's volleyball," Wise said. "Actually, it's great for women's volleyball to have 18,000-plus and to be televised on ESPN. This is the growth of our sport. And our sport has grown in much part because of Nebraska. Their fans, their program — they get a whole lot of credit because they've been the standard bearer for years in terms of attendance figures."
Don't expect the Gators to be intimidated.
"I love that we're going to be playing in front of 16,000 Nebraska fans and we're going to have our little section of orange and blue that's going to be cheering us on,'' Knop said. "That's all we need, to be completely honest."
*****
REPEAT PERFORMANCE?
In the second match of the season for both teams, Florida defeated Nebraska in five sets at the O'Dome on Aug. 26 in the VERT Challenge. Florida opened the season ranked 12th and Nebraska No. 5.
The victory came on the heels of a win over No. 1-ranked Texas in the season opener, a splashy start that set the tone for the season.
The rematch offers an intriguing subplot in that Nebraska senior Kelly Hunter, the Big Ten Conference Setter of the Year, did not play due to injury. Hunter ranks second in school history in career assists and leads the way for Nebraska's offense.
"It's definitely a difficult thing to defend a team that has a very even offense because you don't know specifically where it's going to go in a perfect situation,'' Alhassan said. "That goes back to us playing defense. Our defense starts with our serve, and it's going in and giving them a tough serve, that way we get them out of system. Once they're out of system, it does make blocking easier, and makes our lives easier."
This is the third consecutive Final Four for Hunter. Nebraska is 15-1 in the NCAA Tournament when Hunter starts during her career. She had 47 assists and a career-high 23 digs in Thursday's victory over Penn State.
She is eager to see if she can make a difference this time against the Gators.
"For anyone not playing it's kind of a tough pill to swallow, but watching my team compete, it was a different perspective,'' she said of the previous meeting. "The biggest thing we got out of that first weekend was knowing that we were a team that could be great. We were right there, right at the beginning."
*****
SERVE IT UP
UF freshman outside hitter Paige Hammons delivered down the stretch against Stanford. Hammonds reeled off four consecutive service points that stretched a 5-4 Gators lead to 9-4 in the decisive fifth set.
Hammons chipped in a kill, two assists and seven digs in the biggest match of her young career.
"That's been Paige the entire season,'' teammate Rachael Kramer said. "She has found her serve, and she has found her groove."
Snyder is considered Florida's best player from the service line, but when Hammons is connecting right, her serves tend to dance and dip across the net. She matched her career high with four aces in Florida's NCAA Tournament-opening victory over Alabama State.
Hammons approached the task with a simple goal with the season on the line.
"Trying to get momentum for us and go on a run,'' she said. "CK [Knop] said this in a timeout: 'play for someone next to you.' I just wanted to play for all the seniors and especially Mary. She deserves this more than anyone. I was just serving hard and aggressive for them."
*****
QUOTE OF NOTE I
"She's one of the highest volleyball IQ players I've ever coached as an undergrad. She's going to make someone an awesome assistant. Anybody who is watching this, hire her at once." -- Gators head coach Mary Wise on libero Caroline Knop, who was spectacular (20 digs) defensively against Stanford
QUOTE OF NOTE II
"She is someone who has a refuse-to-lose mentality. I don't think Rhamat is capable of having a bad game. She might have a bad first set, she might have a bad blocking match, but she finds a way to help our team out in some way, whether it be energy, blocking, finding ways to score in situations where a lot of bodies are in front of her. Stanford is some big girls. Finding a way and refusing to let Stanford take us out of that match is not something that surprises me even a little about her." -- Gators senior Carli Snyder after Rhamat Alhassan's 17 kills and season-high .517 hitting percentage in Florida's semifinal win
QUOTE OF NOTE III
"Because we were right there, and I felt that we had a chance to win that and we backed off. I try not to get upset with our team, but sometimes you have to show fire when they didn't take advantage of their opportunity and go for it." -- Nebraska coach John Cook on slamming his notebook on a table in Gainesville during the early-season loss to the Gators
*****
ODDS AND ENDS
Wise had the players turn in their smartphones to avoid any potential distractions after their victory on Thursday. She wants the focus entirely on the national championship game. "As we told our players, your family and friends will be there long after this weekend. This family, our volleyball family, is going to be first just for another 24 hours." … The Gators improved to 2-6 all-time at the Final Four with the win over Stanford … Florida is 4-0 this season in five-set matches … Wise has 70 career NCAA Tournament wins, four shy of Nebraska head coach Cook … The Nebraska-Penn State match lasted 2 hours, 53 minutes, setting a Final Four record. The previous record was 2 hours, 43 minutes for the 1982 San Diego State-Stanford match … This is the third meeting in the NCAA Tournament between the schools. Nebraska defeated the Gators 3-2 in the regional final in 2001, and 3-0 in a 2005 regional final.
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