LOUISVILLE, Ky. — For Florida volleyball fans, it will be odd in 2025 to see a new face in the odd color jersey.
It's a look fifth-year senior libero Elli McKissock has commanded for five years, and it's a look that's permanently etched into the fabric of the Gator standard.
The sixth-seeded Gators' season ended Thursday in a 3-1 defeat to second-seeded Stanford in the NCAA regional semifinal. The familiar matchup of two of the sport's heavyweights lived up to the tape in a physical, offensively-minded bout at Louisville's historic Freedom Hall.
Just like they did when faced with adversity all season, the Gators did not go down easily. Every set but the second went into extra points and was there for either team to take.
McKissock, who is from the Windermere community outside Orlando, certainly doesn't leave Gainesville without a legacy. During the match, she became the program's all-time leader in digs, finishing a standout final season that rewarded her with her first All-SEC selection.
She was there as captain when Florida captured its 25th SEC crown in 2022. She suited up as a Gator in more matches than anyone ever has throughout her five-year career.
Being the face of the program through all of it was a lifelong goal in the making for McKissock.
"I'm from Florida, so growing up and getting to play five years here is just a dream come true," McKissock said.
Gators head coach Mary Wise delivers instructions to her team during Thursday night's four-set loss to Stanford in the NCAA Tournament at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Ky. (Photo: Nicole Scharff/UAA Communications)
Within Florida's core of 14 returners, however, that's not what she'll be remembered for. In Mary Wise's program, the person off the court has always come before the player on it.
Overcoming adversity in both places is what sets the Gator culture apart.
"One of the legacies this group will leave is that you can embrace the hard," Wise said. "These seniors, they didn't run from it. They ran to it."
When junior defensive specialist Emily Canaan left the match with an injury, Trinity Adams did just that and stepped into a role she's been familiar with throughout her four years with the Gators.
Adams, a Radford, Va., native known to her teammates as "Coach Trin," will stay in Louisville to attend her first American Volleyball Coaches Association Convention, hitting the job market and extending another branch in Wise's ever-growing coaching tree.
Florida's senior class cemented its legacy during a time of sweeping change in college athletics with the adoption of the transfer portal.
The Gators also embraced the hard in that area, recruiting AC Fitzpatrick to a three-year stint in Gainesville and Isabel Martin and setter Erin Engel to join the team for the 2024 campaign.
Fitzpatrick, an outside hitter and Ocala native who began her career at Penn State, missed four matches late in the year leading up to the NCAA tournament. She shook that off to the tune of a season-high six blocks, pivotal in Florida's thrilling five-set win over Kansas in the Round of 32.
Taking that chance to come home and play for the Gators is something she holds dearly now in fresh hindsight, just like her head coach.
"I want people to know what a privilege it is to be able to come to this program and play for Mary Wise," Fitzpatrick said. "This is a dream of millions of kids across the country that only 16 to 20 people get to experience each year."
Elli McKissock, No. 23, and her teammates celebrate a point against Stanford. (Photo: Nicole Scharff/UAA Communications)
For Isabel Martin, that dream finally became reality through a cross-country trek of a college career. Through beginning in Tampa at Hillsborough Community College and a decorated stint at UNLV, the fruition of that dream to wear the Orange & Blue still won out.
Her message for young athletes looking to be a part of Florida's culture? Embracing the hard and keeping impossible out of your vocabulary.
"I was dreaming for so long to play for Florida, and here I am," Martin said. "Always keep working, even if nobody's watching."
As a missing link for Florida's offense this year, the 6-foot outside hitter played her way into a draft selection in the startup Pro Volleyball Federation, where she'll head to camp for the expansion Indy Ignite in the spring.
More than all the on-court accolades, one of McKissock's favorites this year has been as a new aunt. Her older sister Matti, a former All-American setter at Georgia Tech, has a 3-month-old who has already stamped her passport to several Florida home games, donning headphones, of course.
Just as Wise and her staff preach: person over player.
The longest-tenured Gator, McKissock leaves behind a historic personal legacy and a young core, including sophomore powerhouse outside Kennedy Martin and redshirt junior setter Alexis Stucky.
Building for stability is an expectation at Florida, and coming with as much success as this five-year run has been a solid foundation for returning to this stage of the dance.
Still, passing the torch of leadership never comes easy, even for perennial contenders like the Gators. For McKissock and her fellow seniors, embracing the fire within is something that never came into question.
That's what Florida Volleyball — the brand created under Wise's direction — seeks to replicate when they're gone.
