On a team full of youthful potential, the No. 15 Florida Gators have grown and survived during a 23-5 regular season. But on Saturday night in the O’Connell Center, the team honored its two wily veterans, Elyse Cusack and Kristina Johnson, on Senior Night.
The team rode the emotional high to a 3-1 (25-13, 27-29, 25-15, 25-9) victory over No. 25 Notre Dame to end the regular season on a high note.
Next up for coach Mary Wise’s team is an NCAA first-round matchup Thursday in the O-Dome against College of Charleston at 7:30 p.m. Miami (Fla.) and FIU meet at 5 p.m. Thursday. The winners return Friday night at 7 for a semifinal spot in the Gainesville Regional Dec. 11-12.
Cusack and Johnson watched several senior classes go through the ceremonial walk of honor prior to the last home regular-season game of the season. But as many young freshmen feel when they are just getting used to life as a college volleyball player, they never thought they would be doing the same thing one day.
On Saturday, the moment finally came for Cusack and Johnson.
“It’s kind of a surreal feeling,” Cusack said. “When you come in as a freshman and see your first senior class, you feel like it’s so far away and so long that it’s never going to get here. It flies by. It’s been a great run. I love being in the class with KJ. It was really fun tonight and I’m glad that we got the win.”
Johnson seemed taken aback by the moment after the match ended.
“It was strange, to be honest,” Johnson said. “I’ve seen four senior classes before me do it, and I’ve always thought, ‘Wow. To be there must be so weird.’ And it was very weird. I can’t believe it’s already here.”
Playing for Florida, the players have seen a lot of talented seniors pass through the doors, so it was an honor to follow the same footsteps of so many legendary Gators.
“I just can’t believe I’m a senior,” Johnson said. “When we were freshmen, I looked up to some amazing seniors. Now that I’m where they were, it is pretty cool.”
The realization that their time at Florida is coming to an end stirred up some emotions, especially for Cusack, who had to fight back tears as she walked across the court with her parents. Although it appeared that she was able to corral those emotions, they were still overwhelming her even as the match got underway.
“I think one of the hardest things I’ve ever done since I’ve been here is that first serve because I was still fighting back tears,” Cusack said. “I didn’t want to cry. My parents are here and the crowd and everyone else. It’s a great feeling, but I had to get it over really fast and start the match.”
Cusack, who had 23 digs in the match, and the rest of the Gators were able to contain those emotions and ride them to a quick lead, grabbing the first set by virtue of a .448 attacking percentage and only one error.
Notre Dame stormed back in the second set and looked as if it was going to tie the match fairly easily heading into the intermission, but Florida fought back before falling 29-27 in the second set. The Gators were unable to control the aggressive Irish offense, only recording two blocks in the opening two sets.
But the Gators came out of the intermission and controlled the play at the net for the rest of the match, recording seven blocks in the last two sets. Cassandra Anderson led the way with six block assists, while Callie Rivers added four block assists of her own.
“They’re an aggressive-hitting team,” Wise said. “It really wasn’t until we started blocking balls that the match was in hand.”
Florida once again went with its one-setter offense that it has relied on since a two-game losing streak. Kelly Murphy directed the offense with 41 assists, falling just two shy of her career high, while also contributing 12 kills and eight digs.
Rivers led the way with 14 kills, while Kristy Jaeckel added 10 and Colleen Ward added nine kills.
Unfortunately for the Irish, Serinity Phillips left the game with an ankle injury and was seen walking with a boot after the match. It was a moment that Wise hated to see, especially knowing that the postseason is just around the corner.
“My heart just aches for Notre Dame,” Wise said. “I hope that Serinity Phillips’ ankle injury isn’t serious. At this point in time, you just hope you are playing your best volleyball at the end of the season and you do it injury-free.”
Luckily for the Gators, none of Wise’s players are injured heading into the postseason, and they are riding a three-match winning streak.
“Now we just sit back and find out (where will be playing),” Wise said. “We don’t care where they send us or who we’ll play. We like to think that we’re playing our best volleyball of the year and we’ll see how far that can take us.”
The Gators earned the No. 16 seed in the Gainesville Regional that they will host Dec. 11-12. But to be one of the four regional semifinalists, Florida must first beat College of Charleston and then the Miami (Fla.)-Florida International winner.
NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
GAINESVILLE REGIONAL
FIRST AND SECOND ROUNDS
Dec. 4-5 at State College, Pa.
No. 1 Penn State (32-0) vs. Binghamton (15-15)
Army (26-6) vs. Pennsylvania (22-5)
Dec. 3-4 at Gainesville, Fla.
Miami (Fla.) (18-12) vs. Florida International (31-3)
College of Charleston (18-12) vs. No. 16 Florida (23-5)
Dec. 4-5 at Columbus, Ohio
No. 9 California (18-10) vs. Lipscomb (28-3)
Cincinnati (25-10) vs. Ohio State (24-9)
Dec. 4-5 at Los Angeles
Georgia Tech (21-9) vs. Baylor (22-9)
Long Beach State (22-8) vs. No. 8 UCLA (23-8)
SEMIFINALS/CHAMPIONSHIP
Dec. 11-12 at Gainesville
State College, Pa. winner vs. Gainesville winner
Columbus, Ohio winner vs. Los Angeles (UCLA) winner
STANFORD REGIONAL
FIRST AND SECOND ROUNDS
Dec. 3-4 at Champaign, Ill.
No. 5 Illinois (24-5) vs. Indiana-Purdue at Fort Wayne (20-11)
Milwaukee (16-14) vs. Dayton (29-3)
Dec. 4-5 at Los Angeles
Southern California (21-9) vs. Oklahoma (18-11)
New Mexico (20-9) vs. No. 12 Hawaii (27-2)
Dec. 4-5 at Ann Arbor, Mich.
No. 13 Michigan (24-9) vs. Niagara (23-8)
Ohio (26-6) vs. Notre Dame (21-6)
Dec. 4-5 at Stanford, Calif.
St. Mary’s, Calif. (22-4) vs. UC Santa Barbara (22-7)
Long Island (21-13) vs. No. 4 Stanford (21-7)
SEMIFINALS/CHAMPIONSHIP
Dec. 11-12 at Stanford, Calif.
Champaign, Ill. winner vs. Los Angeles (USC) winner
Ann Arbor, Mich. winner vs. Stanford, Calif. winner
MINNEAPOLIS REGIONAL
FIRST AND SECOND ROUNDS
Dec. 5-6 at Tallahassee, Fla.
No. 3 Florida State (28-2) vs. Alabama A&M (18-10)
Florida A&M (17-9) vs. Jacksonville State (26-7)
Dec. 4-5 at Lexington, Ky.
Kentucky (27-4) vs. Michigan State (17-15)
Clemson (23-9) vs. No. 14 Oregon (19-9)
Dec. 4-5 at Knoxville, Tenn.
No. 11 Minnesota (24-8) vs. Louisville (21-10)
Duke (27-5) vs. Tennessee (23-7)
Dec. 3-4 at Fort Collins, Colo.
Colorado State (23-5) vs. Middle Tennessee State (25-9)
Northern Colorado (21-11) vs. No. 6 Washington (23-5)
SEMIFINALS/CHAMPIONSHIP
Dec. 11-12 at Minneapolis
Tallahassee, Fla. winner vs. Lexington, Ky. winner
Knoxville, Tenn. winner vs. Fort Collins, Colo. winner
OMAHA REGIONAL
FIRST AND SECOND ROUNDS
Dec. 4-5 at Ames, Iowa
No. 7 Iowa State (25-4) vs. George Mason (23-8)
Wichita State (25-6) vs. Saint Louis (24-7)
Dec. 4-5 at Lincoln, Neb.
Washington State (18-12) vs. Northern Iowa (30-2)
Coastal Carolina (20-13) vs. No. 10 Nebraska (23-6)
Dec. 4-5 at Baton Rouge, La.
No. 15 Louisiana State (24-6) vs. Tulane (18-9)
Arizona (19-10) vs. Texas A&M (18-10)
Dec. 4-5 at Austin, Texas
Texas Christian (26-6) vs. Rice (23-8)
Texas State (22-12) vs. No. 2 Texas (24-1)
SEMIFINALS/CHAMPIONSHIP
Dec. 11-12 at Omaha, Neb.
Ames, Iowa winner vs. Lincoln, Neb. winner
Baton Rouge, La. winner vs. Austin, Texas winner
FINAL FOUR AT TAMPA
Dec. 17 semifinals
Gainesville regional winner vs. Stanford regional winner, 7 or 9 p.m. (ESPN2)
Minneapolis regional winner vs. Omaha, Neb. Winner, 7 or 9 p.m. (ESPN2)
Dec. 19 championship
Semifinal winners, 8 p.m. (ESPN2)