With Noami Santos-Lamb hobbling on crutches, Florida’s freshmen have given the team a leg to stand on.
Junior Chloe Mann couldn’t be a more different player than she was at this time last year.
During Živa Recek’s first match as a Gator, she was having trouble with the change of pace. In the first set alone, she had one kill against an error in seven total attacks.
Mary Wise can finally breathe. The new offense worked.
When the Gators open their season against Florida International tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the O’Connell Center, they’ll have the opportunity to do something they haven’t done since 2007 — run a 5-1 offense.
This offseason has been a time of major change for coach Mary Wise.
Last year, the Gators had five seniors in their starting lineup. Among those five were All-Americans Kelly Murphy and Kristy Jaeckel, who accounted for 43 percent of Florida's kills, 47 percent of assists and 48 percent of the team's service aces in 2011.
There was no doubt that Taylor Brauneis was Louisville's dominant setter for the last two years. The junior led the team with 1,100 assists in 2010, and continued her top performance in 2011 when she was responsible for 85 percent of the Cardinals' assists.
As part of The Alligator Awards recognizing the best in UF athletics during the 2011-12 season, columnists Joe Morgan and Corey McCall will debate two of the five nominees in each week’s category. Vote for the winner online at alligatorSports.org.
As part of The Alligator Awards recognizing the best in UF athletics during the 2011-12 season, columnists Joe Morgan and Corey McCall will debate two of the five nominees in each week’s category. Vote for the winner online at alligatorSports.org.
For the first time since 2005, the Gators volleyball team reached the Elite Eight.
Taylor Unroe stepped to the back line to serve. By the time she was finished, the match was largely in hand and Florida was en route to its first Sweet 16 victory since 2005.
Florida entered the NCAA tournament with the nation’s most efficient offense, coming in as the only team with a hitting percentage above .300.
When the NCAA selection committee put together the pool last Sunday for this year’s volleyball tournament, Florida found itself in a tough spot.
For the second game in a row, Florida’s season looked in doubt at the end of the first set. The nation’s most efficient offense was out-worked and defeated 25-16 at the hands of Northern Iowa.
In the first set of Florida’s opening-round NCAA matchup Friday against Missouri, the Gators never saw a lead.
When Florida takes the court in Cedar Falls, Iowa, tonight at 6, it will be staring across the net at a team that embodies nearly everything it is not.
When Florida takes the court Friday night to begin the NCAA tournament, it will be thrown into a scenario equal parts familiar and different.
Although Gainesville is home to a regional in this year’s NCAA volleyball tournament, it’s going to take Florida two wins on the road if it wants to play in the O’Connell Center again this season.
Stephanie Ferrell didn’t take a single swing in the third set.
Solutions by The State News
