Gator Country

Florida head coach Mary Wise and the Gators will face 10 teams that participated in 2010 NCAA Tournament during the 2011 season. / Gator Country file photo by Tim Casey

Two home regular-season tournaments, participation in the second year of the NIKE Volleyball Big Four Classic and 17 home matches highlight the 2011 University of Florida volleyball schedule, announced Tuesday by head coach Mary Wise.

Florida finished with a 29-2 overall record in 2010 and claimed the program’s 19th Southeastern Conference title. The Gators advanced to the NCAA regional semifinals for the 19th time in the last 20 years and extended the nation’s longest streak of consecutive 25-win seasons to 20.

Florida has 10 teams on its 2011 schedule that participated in last year’s NCAA Tournament and could play as many as 13 matches against teams that qualified for the postseason a year ago.

“We will benefit from competing against the highly successful teams we play in the pre-conference season,” Wise said. “These matches will only help us as we head into conference play. This group – especially the seniors – look forward to the challenge.”

Florida also will play host to an NCAA Volleyball Regional for the 11th time in program history Dec. 9-10, 2011 in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. It will mark the fourth time in six years that Florida will play host to NCAA regional action, as the Gators hosted regional events in 2006, 2007 and, most recently, in 2009. In 2007, UF became the first school to be awarded a regional in back-to-back years since the formation of pre-determined sites prior to the 2003 campaign.

“The selection of UF as a regional site is a direct reflection of the terrific job the UAA does hosting, the O’Connell Center as a volleyball venue and the support we receive from the community,” Wise said. “We are honored to once again host the event.”

The Gators open the 2011 season by playing host to the Active Ankle Challenge in Gainesville, featuring Auburn, Boston College and North Carolina. Florida will face off with Boston College at 7:30 p.m. ET Aug. 26 before meeting North Carolina at 3:30 p.m. ET on Aug. 27.

Florida then entertains intra-state rival Florida State on Aug. 30 before welcoming Clemson, Florida Atlantic and Jacksonville to Gainesville for the annual Campus USA Credit Union Invitational. The Gators will meet each of those three teams in a round-robin format over the two-day tournament Sept. 2-3.

Florida will host 2011 NCAA participant Iowa State on Sept. 5 in a re-match of the season opener from the 2010 season, before traveling west to Palo Alto, Calif., to compete in the second year of the NIKE Volleyball Big Four Classic. The Gators will square off with Texas on Sept. 9 and meet either four-time defending NCAA Champion Penn State or Stanford on Sept. 10.

For the sixth consecutive year, the SEC volleyball schedule will feature a double round-robin format in which each team plays the other 10 league schools both home and away in lieu of an SEC Tournament.

Full radio and television schedules for the Florida volleyball team will be released later this summer.

2011 FLORIDA VOLLEYBALL SCHEDULE

Aug. 26-27 :: Active Ankle Challenge :: Gainesville, Fla.
Aug. 26 Boston College 7:30 p.m. ET
Aug. 27 North Carolina 3:30 p.m. ET

Aug. 30 Florida State 7 p.m. ET

Sept. 2-3 :: Campus USA Credit Union Invitational :: Gainesville, Fla.
Sept. 2 Jacksonville 12 p.m. ET
Sept. 2 Florida Atlantic 7:30 p.m. ET
Sept. 3 Clemson 4 p.m. ET

Sept. 5 Iowa State 2 p.m. ET

Sept. 9-10 :: NIKE Volleyball Big Four Classic :: Palo Alto, Calif.
Sept. 16 at Mississippi State 8 p.m. ET

Sept. 23 Kentucky 7 p.m. ET
Sept. 25 Tennessee 1:30 p.m. ET

Sept. 30 at Auburn 7 p.m. ET
Oct. 2 at Georgia 1:30 p.m. ET

Oct. 7 Arkansas 7 p.m. ET
Oct. 9 LSU 1:30 p.m. ET

Oct. 14 at Ole Miss 8 p.m. ET
Oct. 16 at Alabama 2 p.m. ET

Oct. 19 at South Carolina 7 p.m. ET
Oct. 23 Mississippi State 1:30 p.m. ET

Oct. 28 at Tennessee 7 p.m. ET
Oct. 30 at Kentucky 1:30 p.m. ET

Nov. 4 Alabama 7 p.m. ET
Nov. 6 Ole Miss 1:30 p.m. ET

Nov. 11 at LSU 8 p.m. ET
Nov. 13 at Arkansas 1:30 p.m. ET

Nov. 18 Georgia 7 p.m. ET
Nov. 20 Auburn 1:30 p.m. ET

Nov. 23 South Carolina 7 p.m. ET

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