Is it a good thing or a burden when a team can win 18 games in conference play and its season considered somewhat disappointing?
A year removed from a 27-4 campaign when the volleyball Gators needed a Tennessee victory at Kentucky on the last day of play to clinch their 18th consecutive SEC Championship for head coach Mary Wise, the Gators look primed for a run at a title of a different sort – the NCAA championship, which will be contested at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa.
That decision by Wise to lean so heavily on freshmen in 2008 is looking good for 2009, considering the Gators might not have to leave the state as they seek the first NCAA title under the only coach the program has known. After the first and second rounds, which are played on campus sites, Florida hosts one of four regionals feeding the Final Four at the home of the Tampa Bay Lightning that is 131 miles from the Lemerand Athletics Center. Hosting the regional certainly will increase Florida’s chances to make it past the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2003.
Now while there are plenty of talented upperclassmen on the team, leadership will come from a pair of talented seniors – 6-foot-2 middle blocker Kristina Johnson and Melrose native Elyse Cusack, who has developed into one of the best liberos in the country. Junior Callie Rivers has also developed into one of the top players in the SEC. However, this team will only go as far as its sophomores take it.
A season ago, the top-ranked recruiting class arrived with considerable fanfare. However, Wise didn’t know what she had in this bunch. After an offseason of grueling workouts, Wise has a much better feel for this team.
“Well, there’s nothing like experience,” Wise said. “A year ago at this time, we were hoping they knew each others’ names, let alone the terminology we use with the team. Now, we’re just so much further ahead doing more advanced things tactically, where as a year ago we were spending so much time doing so many things technically.”
SEC Freshman of the Year Kelly Murphy concurred with the notion that a year of playing together will help this still young team. One of the top incoming freshmen in the country a year ago, Murphy did not disappoint with her play. Already developing into one of the top players in the conference, she feels the team chemistry is even better than a year ago.
“I think our communication is a lot better,” Murphy said. “With a year of experience, we’re all used to each other.”
Landing the 6-2 Murphy, who played for Joliet (Ill.) Catholic, would be on par with Urban Meyer dipping into Virginia Beach, Va., to sign Percy Harvin in February of 2006. Murphy is mobile, versatile and, most importantly, she wants to win.
“Kelly will never be the most vocal player on our team,” Wise said. “But she is easily as competitive as the most competitive players. If I ask Kelly to be the libero, she will do it to win. Watching her a year later, you can see how comfortable she is in the system, with this team. She’s so much stronger. She’s so much improved in the setting of her game. As good as Kelly was as a hitter, she’s that good as a setter. I think that spells scary things.”
While Murphy provided plenty of fireworks in 2008, she wasn’t the only young gun to have a standout season. Up front, a pair of fellow 6-2 players also turned in tremendous performances. Outside hitters Colleen Ward (Naperville, Ill.) and Kristy Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.) would garner SEC All-Freshman team honors. Building on their play from a season ago, they expect Matt DeLancey’s off-season strength and conditioning program to take this group to the next level.
“I’ve seen a lot of improvement,” Ward said. “Matt did a great job training us. We did a lot of running and lifting, and it’s really prepared us for this year.”
Jaeckel took it even a step further. She believes the intense off-season program has brought this team even closer together. “At times we questioned if we could even finish,” she recalls of the summer. “Being able to get through that, and knowing that we did it together as a team was (important). Not one time did one person not make a goal time, not one time did one person have to fall out of the workout. We made it through together and as a team that is going to make us that much better.”
Wise echoes that sentiment. “This year, my gut (believes) these guys know how to work hard,” she said. “You can’t be up at 6 in the morning running on the track and not know how to work hard.”
One key member of the touted 2008 recruiting class who didn’t participate a year ago is middle blocker Betsy Smith, who hails from Atlanta. Although she didn’t see any game action last season, big things could be in store for Smith this year.
“The redshirt definitely helped me a lot. I’ve become a lot stronger, and that was the main goal for us, so I can help the team as much as possible this upcoming season.”
Despite not being able to participate in any matches last year, Smith believes this is a group with a common bond. A class that plays with good chemistry on the court is even more tightly knit off of it.
“We’re a really close class,” Smith said. “Colleen Ward, Kelly Murphy, Elisa Haussmann and I all lived together, so we’re really close. Then with Cassandra (Anderson, middle blocker from Bakersfield, Calif.) in that mix, we get along really well.”
Even with all this talent, Wise didn’t really know what she had on her hands. But after a year of playing and growing together as a team, Wise has a better feel for it.
“Five new freshmen, knowing that so many of them were going to start, I had no idea,” she said. “So much of it was a feeling out. They know how to pay attention to detail (now) and they’re competitive. There is no substitute for experience.”
It could make the trip from Gainesville to Tampa that much easier.