The fifth-ranked Florida Gators are getting used to living out of their suitcases these days.
Coach Mary Wise’s Gators have spent the entire month of September on the road, traveling to California and to Tampa the past two weekends. But they don’t have much time to rest before hitting the road again on their way to Oxford and Fayetteville this weekend.
Florida (6-1) opens its conference schedule against Ole Miss (8 p.m. Friday) and Arkansas (2 p.m. Sunday) to wrap up their three-week stretch of road matches.
The Gators are heading into the SEC schedule sporting an NCAA-record 18 consecutive conference championships. They know that to continue the streak, they will have to do it with the target squarely on their backs once again.
“I think definitely winning 18 straight is a big deal,” said senior libero Elyse Cusack. “We know we’re going to get every team’s best shot, especially on the road. We just have to take it one match at a time and play each match like it’s our last.”
As one of two seniors on the team, Cusack knows what it’s like to play with the burden of that target weighing on her back. Her teammates are learning to thrive under that pressure along with the added pressure of having fans cheering against them.
“I think it’s always something you have to do,” said junior setter Brynja Rodgers. “You have to embrace the fact that other fans are literally there cheering against you. As an athlete, it kind of provides a little motivation. It’s always fun to go on a point run and the crowd has to be quiet and stay in their seats for a while. It’s a good feeling.”
Although the Gators are getting used to playing on the road, there is a hint of excitement to return to the O’Dome and play in front of their home fans once again, something they haven’t done since the Aug, 31 match against Florida State.
“The O-Dome is a great atmosphere,” Rodgers said. “It’s a great place to play and all of us would like to play at home every single match, but it’s not always going to happen that way.”
The long stretch away from the friendly confines of their home court has given the Gators a little extra motivation. When the postseason rolls around and if they win their first two matches, they will sleep in their own beds while hosting the NCAA Regional.
“We’re lucky enough to be hosting the regional, which is a really great thing, especially if we are in it,” Rodgers said.
But the Gators know they still have one more task at hand before they can think about returning home. Given the fact that the end of their road trip coincides with the start of the conference season, the Gators know they have a challenge in front of them.
Every team needs is to learn how to play without the fans,” Rodgers said. “The bigger matches will definitely be on the road and this is obviously good practice for that.”
The Gators have fared fairly well on the road so far this season. Their victory over South Florida in Tampa extended the Gators road winning streak to three matches, including a win over No. 11 Stanford.
But when faced with their stiffest test of the season, No. 3 Washington, the Gators wilted and lost in straight sets. Florida stood toe-to-toe with the Huskies on their back-line defense in the match but came up short on the attack, hitting for only a .067 attacking percentage, and on blocking, being outblocked 7-4.
Going forward the Gators are going to continue working on their blocking, something that Wise has stressed throughout the season, and even though their weakness cost them against Washington, the loss against such a talented team will only help the youthful Gators in the long run.
That youth has carried the Gators so far this season, but even just last season many of the current players were coming into this very situation not knowing what it would be like to take the court for an SEC match.
It’s fair to say that the Gators responded very well to that unknown, winning their first 11 SEC games en route to that 18th consecutive title. Their only two losses last year came on the road, against Georgia and Kentucky in five sets. The Gators are more dangerous with that extra year of experience under their belts, but one thing pops into Wise’s head when talking about how this year is different than last year.
“The biggest difference is that we can’t use inexperience as an excuse,” Wise said. “They’ve been on the road. They’ve seen the gyms.”
The first of those gyms the Gators will walk into is a unique venue. The Ole Miss arena is small to the point where there is no room to chase down balls and becomes packed and louder than most arenas with half of the fans. It’s a home-court advantage the Rebels use well.
“Ole Miss has been one of those teams that has always played so well at home,” Wise said. “They have had for years this philosophy of relentless pursuit. Balls don’t just land on the floor without bodies flying. Combine that with their backcourt defense and what a really good blocking team they’ve become. I would look at Ole Miss at one of those teams that I guarantee before the season ends they’re going to have beaten a team at home that on paper maybe they shouldn’t have.”
After getting used to the playing in such a small arena, the Gators will turn right around and travel to Arkansas’ Barnhill Arena, which offers players much more room to chase down balls.
You would think the Gators would be ready to rush through this weekend’s matches to return home at the end of the long road stretch but that would be furthest from the truth.
“I think they don’t know any different,” Wise said. “It is what it is.”
BISON/AVCA DIVISION I COACHES POLL
Rank School W-L Points Prev.
1. Penn State (51) 9-0 1489 1
2. Texas (6) 5-0 1438 2
3. Washington (3) 8-0 1393 3
4. Hawaii 7-2 1243 6
5. Florida 6-1 1224 4
6. Michigan 10-0 1202 7
7. UCLA 8-1 1165 8
8. Nebraska 7-2 1089 5
9. Minnesota 7-2 995 9
10. Iowa State 8-1 891 11
11. Stanford 5-3 877 10
12. Oregon 6-0 824 12
13. California 5-3 775 13
14. Illinois 6-1 739 14
15. Southern California 9-1 712 15
16. Kentucky 10-0 611 17
17. Michigan State 9-0 502 18
18. UC Irvine 9-1 394 20
19. Florida State 8-1 328 22
20. Wichita State 9-1 303 23
21. Arizona 8-0 260 25
22. St. Louis 4-5 248 16
23. San Diego 4-3 157 24
24. Baylor 11-0 129 NR
25. Pepperdine 7-2 85 19
Others: Kansas State 71, Dayton 58, Texas A&M 45, Purdue 40, Louisiana State 30, Duke 27, Notre Dame 27, Long Beach State 18, St. Mary’s (Calif.) 16, Washingon State 13, Northern Iowa 10, Colorado State 9, Oregon State 8, Rice 8, UC Santa Barbara 6, Cincinnati 5, Santa Clara 4, Ohio 2.