With the O’Connell Center lights out and David Guetta’s “Where Them Girls At” blaring from the speakers, Florida’s volleyball team danced onto the court to begin the 2011 season.
The rest of the evening proved to be only mildly more challenging.
Behind strong offensive performances from senior outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel and sophomore outside hitter Stephanie Ferrell, UF (1-0, 0-0 Southeastern Conference defeated Boston College (0-1, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) in straight sets (25-11, 25-15, 25-16) Friday night in front of a crowd of 3,612.
“It feels great to know that all of our hard work the past few weeks is paying off,” junior Cassandra Anderson said.
Each attacker had seven kills and Ferrell surprised some by racking up a hitting percentage of .429, an impressive performance for a player who has been powerful throughout her career but only averaged .232 in hitting efficiency.
“The biggest difference in Steph’s game right now compared to last year is she’s much more patient as a hitter,” UF coach Mary Wise said. “Not every ball has to be an 80 mph kill, although a lot of those kills tonight she had were.”
Also chiming in for the Gators was Anderson, who hit .667 with six kills.
But it wasn’t all offense for Florida. Redshirt freshman Taylor Unroe took the court for her first collegiate start at defensive specialist and was a solid backcourt presence for the Gators all night.
The Muncie, Ind., native recorded nine digs and added four service aces to continue the praises her jump serve has garnered all offseason.
“I’m sure she shocked everyone, but it’s no surprise to us how great she is and how hard she works,” Jaeckel said. “We’ve been lucky to have her since last year.”
The frontcourt was a strong point as well. Wise said she always looks at blocks first when inspecting a stats sheet, and she liked what she saw on Friday. Florida out-blocked Boston College 9-2 and helped force the Eagles to hit -.029.
“When your team serves well, blocking becomes a lot easier,” Wise said. “If we’re averaging close to three blocks per set, then we’re going to be able to compete with teams.”
To cap off a successful opening night, Wise was impressed with the student turnout, a home court advantage she said she hadn’t seen at Florida in about 20 years.
“The student section is what makes places tough to win,” she said. “I hope the students had a great time, and they’ll come back because it was awesome to see that tonight.”
