Gator Country

Coach Mary Wise and the Florida Gators volleyball team will be seeking their 19th straight SEC Championship./Gator Country file photo by Tim Casey

Five opponents who participated in the 2008 NCAA Tournament and 14 home matches highlight the 2009 University of Florida volleyball schedule. Florida also will play host to an NCAA Regional for the third time in the last four years on Dec. 11-12 a week before the NCAA Final Four will be played at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa Dec. 17 and 19.

Coach Mary Wise’s Gators will be seeking to add to their NCAA- record 18 straight Southeastern Conference championships and are coming off a 27-4 season that included an 18-2 mark in SEC play. The 27 victories extended the nation’s longest streak of 25-win seasons to 18 in a row. Florida returns five starters from a team that qualified for the NCAA regional semifinals for the 17th time in the last 18 seasons and finished No. 10 in the final polls.

“Our non-conference schedule sets us up to play quality opponents to help us prepare for the SEC regular season,” Wise said. “It was our goal to face challenging competition from the opening weekend to the last weekend of the season. We anticipate the race for the SEC Championship to be every bit as competitive as it was a year ago. Teams in our league return so many great players that fans of SEC Volleyball are going to be in for a treat this season.”

The Gators begin the 2009 season with the Campus USA Credit Union Invitational at the O’Connell Center. Colorado, Valparaiso and UNLV will join Florida in the two-day event that begins Friday, Aug. 28. Florida meets UNLV on Friday at 7 p.m. and then meets Colorado Saturday, Aug. 29 at 7 p.m.

Florida then plays host to Florida State in a prime-time Monday match in Gainesville on Aug. 31, looking to extend a 17-match winning streak against the Seminoles, who finished the 2008 campaign with a 21-9 record, just missing an NCAA Tournament appearance.

The first weekend of September will have Florida traveling to the University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif., to participate in the 31st Community Bankers Classic. Florida will meet 2009 NCAA runner-up Stanford at 8 p.m. EST on Sept. 4. Then the Gators will meet either tourney host Pacific or San Jose State on Sept. 5 at either 8 or 10 p.m. EST.

The following weekend, Florida and South Florida will participate with national powers Washington and Minnesota in the Tampa Twice Tournament, a tournament that will serve as a preview of the NCAA Final Four in December. Florida meets USF on Friday, Sept. 11 at 8 p.m. and faces Washington the following night at 6 p.m.

“We have the opportunity to play in Tampa against a South Florida team that is really making a move – they won the Collegiate Beach Volleyball Challenge title,” Wise said. “We will also play recent national championship participant Washington. This is a great way for Tampa to promote volleyball for its city and the December championship.”

Florida begins its 2009 SEC schedule on Sept. 18 at Mississippi with the league home opener set for Sept. 25 against Mississippi State. For the fourth straight season, the 11 teams that play volleyball in the SEC (Vanderbilt does not) will play each other home and away.

AUGUST
Campus USA Credit Union Invitational (Gainesville)
28 (Friday): Colorado vs. Valparaiso, 5 p.m.; Florida vs. UNLV, 7 p.m.
29 (Saturday): Valparaiso vs. UNLV, 5 p.m.; Florida vs. Colorado, 7 p.m.
31 (Monday): FLORIDA STATE, 7 p.m.

SEPTEMBER
31st annual Community Bankers Classic (Stockton, Calif.)
4 (Friday): Stanford, 8 p.m.
5 (Saturday): San Jose State or Pacific, 8 or 10 p.m.
Tampa Twice Tournament (St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa)
11 (Friday): Washington vs. Minnesota, 6 p.m.; Florida vs. South Florida, 8 p.m.
12 (Saturday): Florida vs. Washington, 6 p.m.; Minnesota vs. South Florida, 8 p.m.
18 (Friday): at Mississippi (SEC), 8 p.m.
20 (Sunday): at Arkansas (SEC), 2:30 p.m.
25 (Friday): MISSISSIPPI STATE (SEC), 7 p.m.
27 (Sunday): ALABAMA (SEC), 1:30 p.m.

OCTOBER
2 (Friday): KENTUCKY (SEC) 7 p.m.
4 (Sunday): TENNESSEE (SEC), 1:30 p.m.
7 (Wednesday): at South Carolina (SEC), 7 p.m.
11 (Sunday): at Louisiana State (SEC), 2:30 p.m.
16 (Friday): at Auburn (SEC), 7 p.m.
18 (Sunday): at Georgia (SEC), 1:30 p.m.
23 (Friday): ARKANSAS (SEC), 7 p.m.
25 (Sunday): MISSISSIPPI (SEC), 1:30 p.m.
30 (Friday): at Alabama (SEC), 8 p.m.

NOVEMBER
1 (Sunday): at Mississippi State (SEC), 1:30 p.m.
6 (Friday): GEORGIA (SEC), 7 p.m.
8 (Sunday): AUBURN (SEC), 1:30 p.m.
13 (Friday): LOUISIANA STATE (SEC), 7 p.m.
20 (Friday): at Tennessee (SEC), 7 p.m.
22 (Sunday): at Kentucky (SEC), 1:30 p.m.
27 (Friday): SOUTH CAROLINA (SEC), TBA
28 (Saturday): NOTRE DAME, TBA

DECEMBER
NCAA Tournament
First/Second Rounds
3-4 (Thursday-Friday), 4-5 (Friday-Saturday), 5-6 (Saturday-Sunday): 16 campus sites TBD
Regionals
11-12 (Friday-Saturday): 4 sites – Stephen C. O’Connell Center, University of Florida, Gainesville; Sports Pavilion, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn.; Qwest Center, Omaha, Neb.; Maples Pavilion, Stanford University, Stanford, Calif.
Final Four at St. Pete Forum, Tampa
17 (Thursday): Semifinals
19 (Saturday): Championship

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