Editor's Note: This is the first of a five-part series as we reveal who a six-man alligatorSports panel has voted as the Top 10 UF Athletes of 2008-09.
Cusack's all-around game key to Gators
By PHIL KEGLER, Alligator Staff Writer
Elyse Cusack came to Gainesville ready to become UF's first four-year starter at the libero position.
When she departs after next season, she will leave a legacy that will be tough to match by any who follow in her footsteps.
In just three seasons, she has already eclipsed the Gators' all-time digs record and now sits with 1,634 to her credit.
The old mark? A now-paltry-looking count of 1,444 set by Lyra Vance more than 20 years ago.
"She expects any ball that is hit anywhere toward her should be dug," coach Mary Wise said when Cusack broke the record.
Last fall also saw Cusack become the first player in Southeastern Conference history to earn Defensive Player of the Week honors four times in a single season.
But there's more than just scraping up the ball off the floor and keeping points alive to the libero position. She also is responsible for the majority of UF's first touches on serve-receive. A bad first pass makes setting even more difficult and therefore kills become even rarer.
Now, one might see Cusack's offensive impact, even if she has only 10 kills to her name and has never spiked a ball for the Gators.
Her importance to her team was recognized by the four awards she earned at the team's annual banquet. Certainly Cusack was a shoo-in for the defensive honors, but she also took home recognition in passing, serving and strength and conditioning.
She finished second in the SEC for aces per set (0.41) and was the only player in the conference to finish in the top five in digs and service aces.
It's no surprise Cusack won the Gator Power Award, as her weightroom work earns mighty praise from her coaches.
Assistant strength and conditioning coach for UF Olympic sports Matt Delancey told the Alligator last fall, "Pound for pound, she's in the top five strongest athletes at the school."
Add in an upbeat personality that always keeps her teammates going, and it's easy to see the crucial role Cusack - one of only four upperclassmen on the 2008 volleyball team - played this season.
For her spectacular saves and an all-around game crucial to the Gators' success, Elyse Cusack is the alligatorSports No. 10 UF Athlete of 2008-09.
BY THE NUMBERS: Cusack earned one fifth-place vote, one eighth-place vote and was left off the other four ballots.
Black stands out among resurgent UF defense
By ADAM BERRY, Alligator Staff Writer
With 10 minutes left in the BCS National Championship Game and his team down by 3 but slowly marching down the field, Oklahoma's Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Sam Bradford launched a pass down the field to receiver Juaquin Iglesias.
Iglesias reached for the ball, and even got his hands on it, but it was Ahmad Black who came away with the interception at UF's 24-yard line. The safety's team-high seventh pick of the year brought any momentum the Sooners might have been gaining to a grinding halt and set up an 11-play, nearly seven-minute touchdown drive that put the game out of reach.
And to think, Black was supposedly not a sure thing before the season started, just another question mark on a defensive unit that allowed 25.5 points per game in 2007.
Black started all 14 games for the Gators en route to the team's second national championship in three years, and the improved secondary helped cut opponents' offensive production nearly in half. UF gave up just 12.9 points per game in 2008.
After playing cornerback during his true freshman season, Black had to fill the spot at strong safety left vacant by Tony Joiner. Dorian Munroe, who was projected to start at that position, missed the entire 2008 season with an ACL injury.
In the season opener against Hawaii, Black intercepted two passes and returned one for his first touchdown at UF. Not bad for the 5-foot-9 then-sophomore's first career start.
Nationally, Black finished the year tied for most interceptions (seven) and interceptions returned for touchdowns (two) as well as ranking second for most interception return yards (191). He also came in fourth on the team in tackles with 59 and fourth in passes broken up (five) behind fellow starters Joe Haden, Janoris Jenkins and Major Wright.
Those four - Haden, Jenkins, Black and Wright - started every game for UF and helped turn the Gators defense from a possible weak link into one of the surest things in college football.
In the Capital One Bowl, the last game of the 2007 season, Michigan tore up the Gators' secondary for 373 passing yards and three touchdowns. In the 2008 season, no team put up more than 300 passing yards on UF all season. The most was Georgia's 292 on Nov. 1, the same game Black picked off a pass by Matthew Stafford and returned it 64 yards.
For turning in an exceptional season and playing a part in turning UF's defense around, Ahmad Black is the alligatorSports No. 9 UF Athlete of 2008-09.
BY THE NUMBERS: Black earned one fourth-place vote, one fifth-place vote, one 10th-place and was left off the other three ballots.
