(Andrew Stanfill / Alligator Staff ) UF setter Angie McGinnis bumps the ball against Georgia in the O’Connell Center on Sept. 14. She is just 16 assists away from becoming UF's all time leader in assists.

The senior laughed as she acknowledged it would be bad for her team if she didn’t break the record this weekend, considering she has averaged 41.6 assists per match so far this season.

“That’s a pretty awesome accomplishment,” McGinnis said. “But I mean, getting a chance to play for a great volleyball team and getting a chance to start all four years is the only reason that that’s happening.”

McGinnis knows she’s come a long way from her freshman year, and as she looks to record her 4,856th assist, she attributes most of the change to boosts in strength and confidence.

“I didn’t have the strength to push the ball from one side of the court to the other my freshman year necessarily,” McGinnis said. “And now I’m much more confident with it. I do a lot more, like taking a look at the other team’s blocks and trying to get our hitters one-on-one. I’ve kind of gone from a good set my freshman year to making all my sets good, to making them tricky and taking the other team out of their offense.”

Considering the differences in play — back then points were only scored on serve, which made for longer games and therefore more assists — UF coach Mary Wise is impressed McGinnis has closed in on the mark.

“It’s amazing — that was a statistic that was earned back in side-out scoring,” Wise said. “The game has changed in rally scoring. I wasn’t sure when Heidi set it that it would ever be broken. So to not only break it, but break it in rally scoring tells you just what a great setter that Angie has been for our program.”

McGinnis isn’t the only UF player rewriting the history books.

Elyse Cusack became the first player in Southeastern Conference history to win back-to-back Defensive Player of the Week awards.

The award is Cusack’s seventh league honor in just her second season, including five Defensive Player of The Week awards and two Freshman Player of the Week honors.

The five defensive accolades are also the most by one player since the league began naming the award in 2003.

The sophomore libero contributed a season-high 29 digs against Alabama on Sunday.

Wise knows Cusack’s presence on the floor influences a match immensely.

“As Elyse plays, so goes our team,” Wise said. “When she took her game to another level at Alabama, so did our team. She has the ability to really change an entire match. She’s so good that other teams have to really work hard in their entire offensive scheme on how to keep balls away from her. It’s the football player that you run an entire offense (where) all your plays are run on the other side of the field because you’re trying to stay away.”

Kisya Killingsworth continues UF’s record-setting trend as well.

The senior middle blocker recorded her 1,000th kill against LSU on Sept. 23. That made her the 15th player in school history to hit the millennium mark. With fellow senior Marcie Hampton already above the achievement, it marks the fifth time in UF history that the team has had two players on the roster with 1,000 kills.

Not only has Killingsworth dominated in kills, but the senior also tallied her 300th career block Sunday against Alabama. She became the fifth player in school history to have 1,000 kills and 300 blocks.

Wise noted the special nature of Killingsworth’s versatility.

“None of those others had to do it at multiple positions,” Wise said. “Her ability to do that playing three different positions — what a great athlete Kisya is and has been.”

Despite all the milestones being passed, Killingsworth said the team doesn’t focus too much on the individual achievements.

“I think it’s awesome but … we’ll have bigger things to celebrate,” Killingsworth said. “Like if we win a national championship.”