Within the next month, seven UF sports that aren’t named football will begin their seasons.
Ten sports that don’t play in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium will be in action by the time October rolls around.
And while the attention of most fans will focus on the team in the Swamp and whether or not the Gators can rebound from their 4-8 2013 season, those other teams will each begin their own quest for a national title.
Here’s a few teams to look out for:
Soccer: Florida soccer’s offense in 2013 could practically be summed up in two words: Savannah Jordan.
During her freshman campaign at UF, Jordan tallied 22 goals and 47 points — the most in both categories since current US Women’s National Team phenom Abby Wambach scored 31 goals and 76 points back in 2001 — en route to becoming the first freshman to be recognized as the Southeastern Conference Offensive Player of the Year.
The Gators finished the season with an 18-5-1 record, won a share of the SEC regular-season title and reached the NCAA Tournament for the 11th consecutive year.
UF returns 11 of its starters from 2013, highlighted by Jordan and fellow SEC and NCAA All-South Region first-team selections in midfielder Havana Solaun and defender Christen Westphal.
Florida, ranked No. 8 in the NSCAA preseason poll, opens its season on Friday against Miami at 7 p.m. at James G. Pressly Stadium, just west of the O’Connell Center.
Volleyball: The volleyball team is poised for a great season in 2014.
While coach Mary Wise will be without the tandem of two-time SEC Player of the Year and two-time All-American Chloe Mann, who finished her UF career as the NCAA leader in hitting percentage, and setter Taylor Brauneis — who tallied more than 2400 assists in two years at UF — her squad is filled with experience.
Returning from last year’s squad that went 28-4 overall and 16-2 in conference play are the two most recent SEC Freshmen of the Year in sophomore Alex Holston and junior Ziva Recek, who combined for 620 kills last season; 2013 SEC Libero of the Year Taylor Unroe, who led the SEC with 41 service aces; and its entire defensive specialist staff that averaged almost 14 digs per set and paced the SEC with 1.57 aces per set.
Wise also possesses the No. 4 recruiting class, according to Prepvolleyball.com.
Highlighting the group is 6-foot-4 middle blocker Rhamat Alhassan, who led the US Women’s Junior National Team to a first-place finish at the U20 NORCECA Continental Championships in July.
The volleyball team, ranked No. 10 in the AVCA preseason poll, opens its schedule with the two-day Active Ankle Tournament from Aug. 29-30, where it will play host to Georgia Southern, Idaho and Oklahoma in the O’Connell Center.
Swimming and Diving: Gregg Troy has a knack for finding talent.
Ever since he took over the helm of UF’s women’s swimming and diving team in 1998 and its men’s team in 1999, he only had one occasion where one of his teams did not crack the top 10 at the NCAA Championships (women finished 19th in 2000).
Both his teams lost some valuable players, including four Olympians — Sebastien Rousseau and Marcin Cieslak on the men’s side and Elizabeth Beisel and Hilda Luthersdoittr from the women’s squad — but returns 14 athletes who garnered a combined 43 All-America honors in 2014.
Troy also boasts a solid recruiting class, headlined by the No. 1 recruit on the men’s side in Caeleb Dressel.
Dressel, out of Jacksonville Bolles School, set the national high school record for the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 19.29 seconds, which is faster than any swimmer returning to UF this season posted during the 2013-14 campaign.
The men’s squad begins its season with the fifth-annual All-Florida Invitational, taking place from Oct. 3-5 in the O’Connell Center.
The women have a home meet against Arkansas on Sept. 27 at 11 a.m. to begin their season.
Follow Jordan McPherson on Twitter @J_McPherson1126
Savannah Jordan dribbles the ball during Florida’s 2-0 win against Jacksonville on Nov. 16 in Gainesville.
