After going 6-1 in a pre-Southeastern Conference schedule that included victories over four Top 15 opponents and a four-set loss to then top-ranked Penn State, the No. 3 Florida volleyball begins conference play with about as difficult a weekend road trip as coach Mary Wise could have only imagined.
Friday, the Gators face No. 22 Kentucky at 7 p.m. at the Memorial Coliseum in Lexington. Then on Sunday, the Gators visit No. 18 Tennessee at 2 p.m. in Thompson-Boling Arena. Kentucky, Tennessee and Louisiana State are Florida’s main competition for the SEC championship.
“The season starts Friday night in Lexington,” said Wise, whose Florida teams are 19-0 in SEC openers (the Gators are 22-4 all-time in league openers). “Everything that we’ve done so far has been great for learning and for experience, but we understand that it starts Friday night. We fully expect that they will have a great crowd there. We have to rely on the things that we’ve learned over the past three weeks to help us as we head into SEC play.”
Junior right-side/setter Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.) leads the Gators offensively, averaging 2.71 kills per set, while senior outside hitter Callie Rivers (Winter Park, Fla.) and junior outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.) follow with 2.15 and 2.14 kills per set, respectively.
Murphy dishes out a squad-best 5.14 assists per set, while freshman setter Chanel Brown (Tempe, Ariz.) adds 4.68 assists per set. Brown also ranks 10th in the SEC with nine service aces on the year.
Senior libero Erin Fleming (Orlando, Fla.) heads the team’s back-row effort with a team-high 3.46 digs per set, while senior middle blocker Lauren Bledsoe (Long Beach, Calif.) posts 1.07 blocks per set.
Much of Florida’s success during its pre-conference schedule came from a balanced offensive output and a powerful blocking brigade. The Gators have out-blocked their opponents 75.5-59.5, a +16 edge so far this season. Florida has recorded double-figure blocks in five of seven matches this season.
Florida is 41-9 against Kentucky, including 39-2 under Wise. The two teams split their two meetings last season, each winning on the other’s court. Kentucky enters the contest with a 6-4 record, winning its last two matches against Virginia Commonwealth (in three sets) and Kansas State (in five sets).
Redshirt freshman outside hitter Whitney Billings, the reigning SEC Freshman of the Week, leads the way for Kentucky, averaging a squad-best 3.28 kills per set, while seniors Blaire Hiler and Lauren Rapp follow with 2.55 and 2.25 kills per set, respectively. The Wildcats have used a pair of setters in Christine Hartmann and Elizabeth Koberstein, who average 9.08 and 6.22 assists per set, respectively. Redshirt freshman Alexandra Morgan has recorded a team-high 1.12 blocks per set this season.
Florida is 40-9 against Tennessee, including 36-4 under Wise. The Gators and Vols split their two matches, each winning on their own court. Tennessee (8-1) went 2-1 last weekend, losing to Northwestern in five sets before beating Ohio and Pittsburgh. The Lady Vols lead the SEC in a number of categories including hitting percentage (.296), kills per set (14.47) and assists per set (13.12). Senior outside hitter Nikki Fowler leads the way for the Lady Vols offensively with 3.73 kills per set, which ranks fourth in the SEC. Senior middle blocker Leah Hinkey has a squad-best .348 hitting efficiency and also ranks fourth in the league with 1.25 blocks per set. Freshman Kelsey Robinson leads the team’s back-row effort with 3.10 digs per set.