Despite losing its first match of the season to No. 21 Colorado State Saturday, the No. 8 UF volleyball team is staying positive. The Gators are back in Gainesville after a road trip the ended with mixed results. After beating Colorado in Boulder 3-1 (25-22, 25-20, 22-25, 25-18), UF fell to CSU 3-0 (26-24, 25-16, 25-14)
"We scheduled those two matches in preperation for the SEC," UF Volleyball coach Mary Wise said. " We thought that it would be important to take this team on the road before we started conference play."
The Gators (6-1) were impressed by the atmosphere in Fort Collins, Colo.
"That was a great enviorment. There were 4,000 people," Wise said. " We're going to use Colorado State as a measuring stick for a long time."
After a blistering start to her freshman season, Kristy Jaeckel finally cooled off. The outside hitter finished the match against CSU with only five kills and a -.105 hitting percentage.
"Kristy has been a big time point scorer for us, but we need to be able to produce points in other places," Wise said.
Senior middle block Kelsey Bowers seems to be recovering from the back injury that has held her out of practice and several matches this season. She played in both the CU and CSU matches and was even able to practice on the Gators day off.
" That was the first time that she has been able to get out on the floor after a match the night before," Wise said.
Junior Kristina Johnson was limited over the weekend due to pain in her surgically reparied knee. Wise said that the team's extensive travel caused stiffness in the knee.
