Holly Carlton is excited to make her home debut on Friday night when the Gators host Southern Cal at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center. (Photo: Steven Branscombe/For UAA Communications)
Holly Carlton Stands Out Among Gators' Newcomers
Thursday, August 30, 2018 | Volleyball
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By: Ethan Hughes, FloridaGators.com Intern
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – When fans file into Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center on Friday night for the No. 4 Gators' home opener against No. 7 USC as part of the weekend-long Bubly Invitational, they will get their first look at seven new players.
Mary Wise still roams the sidelines for her 28th season and coming off a run to the national championship game, enormous expectations abound as UF remains in pursuit of its first volleyball national championship. Other than that, virtually everything will look different. Gone are familiar faces such as 2017 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year and four-time All-American Rhamat Alhassan and 2017 Second Team All-America selections Carli Snyder and Shainah Joseph.
Of the newcomers, none is bigger – literally or figuratively – than Holly Carlton, who stands 6-foot-7. The redshirt sophomore began her career at the University of North Carolina.
"The atmosphere on the campus, that's something that I do love there and just the balance of the coaching staff was amazing," she said. "So, playing for [assistant] Coach Eve Rackham, who set there and kind of left a legacy there and then was able to play for her as a setter myself, that was a cool opportunity."
Carlton, a lefty, redshirted in 2016. At the end of that season, she was named North Carolina Strength & Conditioning Most Improved Player. In 2017, she finally got on the court, starting all 28 matches and appearing in all 106 sets for the Tar Heels. She led the team with 595 assists and 29 service aces. She posted 10 double-doubles, including four triple-doubles.
However, at the end of the season, she decided it would be best for her to pursue opportunities elsewhere.
"I really loved my time at UNC and had great memories there, but this is just an opportunity to take a step forward and find a better fit for personal growth and growth as a volleyball player," she said.
Carlton asked for and received a release from UNC that allowed her to speak with other schools. She had her eyes set on UF early in the process and reached out to Wise. She also considered USC, Kentucky and Penn State, but she said Florida was the right fit for her.
"She's a really strong, powerful female role model," Carlton said of Wise, the winningest female coach in NCAA Division I history. "I haven't played for a lot of female coaches in the past. My high school and last club coach were and that was just an awesome opportunity. Just the way she leads the team mentally and cares so much for us as players and people has been something really awesome so far.
"Something that drew me here is how systematic and purposeful everything is and just getting to know the coaching staff and seeing how in-depth and specific the systems are. It's an area I can thrive with my personality type and my desire to understand the game."
Holly Carlton made her debut for the Gators last weekend in Lincoln, Neb. (Photo: Steven Branscombe/For UAA Communications)
Carlton arrived in Florida over the summer and began to get acclimated to her new team and environment. She said the biggest adjustments were learning a new system, new teammates and a new role. At UNC, she primarily was a setter, although she had to fill in as a hitter in some games due to injuries. The Gators are counting on her primarily to play right-side hitter and be a scorer.
Carlton is keeping her goals simple for now.
"My individual goals are just to bring a sense of maturity and confidence, just as a returner to the college game," she said. "Then, another goal, for both myself and the team, being young kind of in my position as a player and the team being so young as a whole, is to get better every match."
One of her biggest strengths is versatility. Having played both setter and hitter allows coaches to keep her on the court for all six rotations and fill in for others should injuries happen.
She also said a growth spurt in high school proved beneficial. At the beginning of her freshman season at Potomac Falls (Va.) High School, she was 5-foot-8 and played on the back row. By the end of the season in November, she was 6-foot-2. Because the season was already in progress, she continued to play on the back row. She said this experience has given her a unique perspective on the game.
"I got to develop the skills and the mindset of an undersized player, and now I get to bring that into this body," Carlton said.
In her first two games last weekend in Lincoln, Neb., against No. 2 Nebraska and No. 3 Texas, she played in all nine sets. She is third on the team in scoring with 17.5 points, second in kills with 15 and third in hitting percentage at .293.
Wise was impressed with her performance and wants to get her more involved.
"What we learned is we've got to get more balls to Holly," she said on her Monday radio show. "She plays with a high level of IQ. She graded out really well in terms of what we were asking her to do both blocking and hitting. She just didn't get enough balls."
One play in particular stood out to Wise. Against Texas, a ball was set by her left arm. Unable to make the play with her left hand, she adjusted mid-air and hit the ball with her right hand down the line for a kill.
"It was a high-level response by her," Wise said. "She adjusted. She made something out of it. The ball perhaps was a little too fast, but leave it to Holly, she's not a high-error kid. Her two errors, they weren't by wide margins."
Carlton is looking forward to the Gators (1-1) further discovering their "persona" this weekend. In addition to the Trojans on Friday, Florida will play Louisville on Saturday and UCF on Sunday. Mostly, she wants to finally experience a volleyball game inside the O'Dome.
"As a recruit, you get to watch a bunch of the home matches, but I've never been to the O'Dome when a volleyball match has been happening," she said. "So, it's cool that my first time there, I get to play in one, and I'm just really excited."
She said her transfer couldn't have gone any smoother.
"Just getting down here, it's been a really awesome transition, just seeing how welcoming the atmosphere has been from the coaching staff and my teammates and just feeling like a Gator already," Carlton said.
