After a 2015 season that ended in agonizing defeat, the Florida volleyball team finally has a shot at redemption.
The No. 10 Gators open the 2016 season tonight against No. 1 Nebraska in Eugene, Oregon.
This will mark the fourth time in program history that Florida has challenged the No. 1-ranked team in its season opener, the last being in 2003 when the Gators squared off with then-No. 1 Southern California.
But this Nebraska team isn’t your average No. 1-ranked team.
While the Gators dropped a five-set thriller to Texas in the 2015 NCAA Tournament quarterfinals, the Cornhuskers were hardly challenged, crushing the Longhorns in straight sets to capture the 2015 national championship.
“Any time you play a Nebraska team, you know, they’re very well coached, so disciplined,” UF coach Mary Wise said.
“They’ve got a chance to, if not today, not too long from now, be even better than they were a year ago, and that’s really saying something.”
While Nebraska features a squad that lost only two starters to graduation, Florida will wheel out a team packed with new, inexperienced faces.
And although Florida lost five seniors to graduation at the end of last year, the Gators return plenty of talent and experience on their young, 18-member roster.
Leading the team into battle is 6-foot-4 first-team All-American Rhamat Alhassan, the team’s captain.
The junior defensive dynamo figures to be a terror above the net this season.
Alhassan ranked second in the nation in blocks last season (189).
And at 1.47 blocks per set, she is currently tied for second in Florida’s career record book.
By her side are a pair of All-Americans in Alex Holston and Carli Snyder.
As the team’s lone senior, Holston will look to lead by example.
The right-side hitter elevated her game last season, compiling 438.5 points and 381 kills.
And Snyder, a rising star within the Florida program, set career highs in kills (247), aces (12), digs (246), blocks (39) and points (283) last season.
If the Gators hope to topple the reigning national champions in tonight’s match, they’ll need more than Snyder, Holston and Alhassan.
They’ll need the whole team.
And while Wise said that taking on this squad will be a difficult test for her players, it doesn’t mean they’re not up to the challenge.
“It’s all about the learning experience,” she said.
“It gives us the chance to measure ourselves. …it’s about the long-term process.”
Contact Ray Boone at rboone@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @rboone1994.
UF coach Mary Wise calls out instructions during Florida's 3-0 win against Auburn on Oct. 11, 2015, in the O'Connell Center. On Friday, Wise earned her 800th win as the coach of the Gators.
