Florida Gators volleyball wins #800 for Mary Wise

Special report on the Florida Gators volleyball team:

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida notched a pair of sweeps Friday (Sep. 15), its third and fourth consecutive straight-set victories, over Florida A&M and Northern Kentucky as part of the Gator Invitational.

The two wins also marked the 799th and 800th of head coach Mary Wise’s 27-year tenure at Florida.

Wise, now in the 31st season of her head coaching career, is the fourth coach in NCAA history (the first season of which occurred in 1981) to win 800 matches at the same Division I school. She is also the 11th coach in any NCAA division to win 800 matches at one school.

The other three to do so at the Division I level are Penn State’s Russ Rose (1,154), Hawaii’s Dave Shoji (1,052), and Long Beach State’s Brian Gimmillaro (835).

 

Match 1

The Gators raced out to early leads in both the first and third sets, and their defense smothered Florida A&M for the entirety of the sweep. UF notched 11 blocks and held Florida A&M to a -.009 hitting percentage.

 

Perhaps one of the team’s best performances of the year, from a statistical standpoint, came in the match-clinching set. The Gators hit an absurd .576, tallying 19 kills and zero errors on 33 total attacks. Six different Gators, including junior middle blocker Taelor Kellum, recorded multiple kills in the final set.

 

Senior outside hitter Carli Snyder led the Gators in kills (12) for the fourth time this season, and three-time All-American Rhamat Alhassan recorded a match-high eight blocks.

 

Defensively, Snyder (nine), senior libero Caroline Knop (16 – match high) and sophomore defensive specialist Allie Gregory (11) were the standouts in the digs column.

 

 

Match 2

The Gators battled through a tough first set and pulled away easily in the second and third against Northern Kentucky.

 

Sophomore Rachael Kramer hit a blistering .765 (13 kills and zero errors on 17 attempts). Entering this week, only six other players in the country hit .765 with zero errors and 15-19 attempts.

 

Snyder posted 10 kills and 11 digs for her second double-double of the season. The Macomb, Mich. native has 13 double-doubles in her last 37 matches after posting seven her entire first two years as a Gator.

 

Alhassan notched nine kills and six blocks. Her combined 13 block assists Friday tied her with Nicole McCray (1999-02) for the second-most block assists (440) in school history.

 

Florida wraps up the Gator Invitational Saturday (Sep. 16) against Lipscomb, a 2016 NCAA Tournament qualifier, at 7 p.m. Fans can present a ticket from the Florida-Tennessee football game to gain free admission to the match.

 

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Saturday, Sep. 16 vs. Lipscomb | 7 p.m. ET

Stream: SEC Network + / Watch ESPN | Radio: Audio Stream (Tom Collett & Josh Crow) | Live Stats

 

PARKING INFORMATION

Fans attending Saturday’s matches can utilize campus parking lots west of the O’Dome, as well as the main O’Dome lot, after 3:30 p.m.

 

NOTABLES

  • The Gators have held six consecutive opponents under a .175 hitting percentage for the first time since 2014 (Oct. 24-Nov. 12)

o   Florida has not opened a season with such a streak since 2011, when it also held its first six opponents under a .175 hitting percentage

  • Florida limited Florida A&M to a -.009 hitting percentage, which marked the first time since the 2015 NCAA Tournament First Round win over New Hampshire it held an opponent to a negative clip
  • The Gators hit over .300 for the second time this year in its sweep over Florida A&M (.311)
  • Rhamat Alhassan has posted six or more blocks in five of the Gators’ first six matches
  • Carli Snyder has posted three or more service aces in three matches this year (she had six against #1 Texas in the season-opener)
  • Rachael Kramer has hit above .350 in five of Florida’s six matches this year (and has at least 14 attempts in every match)
  • Allie Gregory posted a season-high 11 digs in the sweep of Florida A&M—which was also one off her career high of 12 from last year’s four-set win at Ole Miss (Sep. 23)
  • Cheyenne Huskey recorded her second match of 15-plus assists this season (she had 18 in the four-set win over No. 1 Texas)
  • Huskey has also recorded at least three blocks in all six of Florida’s matches this year
  • With a win tomorrow night, Mary Wise’s career total will rise to 882, tying longtime UC Santa Barbara head coach Kathy Gregory for the ninth-most victories in Division I history
  • Florida improved its all-time record against Florida A&M to 11-0 (all its victories were in straight sets)

 

SCOUTING THE BISON

Lipscomb (6-5) | 2016 synopsis: 22-8 overall, 12-2 ASUN; ASUN Tournament and regular season champions, NCAA Tournament qualifier

  • First meeting
  • Notable: Florida’s started 26 new series since 2005 and won all those first-time meetings, including 24 via sweep
Andrew Spivey
Andrew always knew he wanted to be involved with sports in some capacity. He began by coaching high school football for six years before deciding to pursue a career in journalism. While coaching, he was a part of two state semifinal teams in the state of Alabama. Given his past coaching experience, he figured covering recruiting would be a perfect fit. He began his career as an intern for Rivals.com, covering University of Florida football recruiting. After interning with Rivals for six months, he joined the Gator Country family as a recruiting analyst. Andrew enjoys spending his free time on the golf course and watching his beloved Atlanta Braves. Follow him on Twitter at @AndrewSpiveyGC.