Unlike many of their previous matches this season, defeating the Florida State Seminoles (22-11) was not easy for No. 1 Florida Gators volleyball (29-1). Nevertheless the Lady Gators rallied together on Saturday night to pull off a come-from-behind five-set victory 3-2 (20-25, 25-22, 22-25, 25-21, 17-15) over the Seminoles in the second round of the 2010 NCAA Championships at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville, FL.

With the win, Florida advances to the Sweet 16 in Austin, TX, where they will face head coach Mary Wise‘s alma mater Purdue.

Junior right-side/setter Kelly Murphy led the way for UF with a team-high 19 kills, 21 assists and 12 digs for yet another triple-double. Junior outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel complimented her with 18 kills and 12 digs, and senior OH Callie Rivers added eight kills and 18 digs. All over the place Saturday was senior libero Erin Fleming, who notched a team-high 20 digs while nailing two service aces. Senior middle-back Lauren Bledsoe contributed 13 kills and posted a team-high .391 attacking percentage.

During the match Murphy registered her 1,000th career kill, becoming the 17th player in school history to reach that milestone.

Trailing two sets to one, Florida rebounded in the fourth and squeaked out a 25-21 win. They would also trail 11-7 in the fifth and final set, a deficit seemingly insurmountable considering it only takes 15 points to win the tiebreaker. Fighting to even things up, the Gators found themselves down 13-11 after Rivers nailed a service ace.

The officials believed UF touched the ball four times on the next point and whistled them for illegal contact, giving FSU a temporary 14-11 lead before they decided to negate the call and play the point over. Florida would go on to tie the set at 13 and eventually win it outright after Jaeckel hit consecutive kills to end the final set 17-15.

The Gators achieved double-digit kills in each set and out-blocked the Seminoles 16.5-10.0. Florida State put forth a superb effort in their upset bid, but Florida was able to overcome some costly errors and mistakes by the officials to win their 29th match of the season and advance in their quest for a National Championship.

Before having to contend with FSU, Florida defeated the South Carolina State Bulldogs (17-23) with a clean 3-0 sweep (25-7, 25-10, 25-12) on Friday evening in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Gators posted an impressive .586 hitting efficiency as Murphy registered eight kills, 17 assists, two service aces and four digs. Rivers had seven kills and six digs, Bledsoe notched five kills and five blocks, and Jaekel added four kills and two aces.

Florida and Purdue will square off in the Austin Regional on Friday, Dec. 10. at a time yet to be determined. The winner will face either Illinois or Texas in the Elite Eight.

HIGHLIGHTS / END OF MATCH

POST-GAME QUOTES (After the break…)
Continue Reading » Florida advances to Sweet 16 after five-set thriller

Tags: Callie Rivers, Erin Fleming, Florida State Seminoles, Kelly Murphy, Kristy Jaeckel, Lauren Bledsoe, Mary Wise, NCAA Championships, O'Connell Center, South Carolina State Bulldogs, volleyball

1 » Five-star 2011 guard recruit Brandon Knight (Fort Lauderdale, FL) looked to be heading anywhere but the University of Florida, after a report surfaced last week that the Florida Gators have decided to stop pursuing him and move on. Whether you believe that to be the case or you think Knight has already made up his mind to play for the Kentucky Wildcats is no matter – Knight has told The Miami Herald that he has not made a decision yet. “I still have an offer [from Florida],” Knight said. “They’re not not recruiting me. They’re just trying to make sure they get a point guard before the signing period is over. […] I don’t feel anything wrong with [that decision]. It’s smart. As a head coach, you don’t want to put all your eggs in one basket and not end up with anything. They just don’t feel as strongly as they did before. Since they’re the hometown school, they thought I would have signed early or something of that nature. I’m not exactly sure.”

2 » Though Gators men’s swimming failed to match the women’s team with a 2010 National Championship, the team did finish in fifth at this year’s event and is the backbone of the 2010 Division I National Men’s Swimmer of the Year, junior Conor Dwyer. The Texas Longhorns ended up winning the event even as 11 Florida swimmers earned 38 All-America performances while simultaneously shattering two school records. Dwyer picked up seven honors of his own along with two national titles in the 500- and 200-yard freestyles. Read more about the event.

3 » No. 2/5 Florida baseball (18-5, 4-2 SEC) succeeded in ending its two-game road losing streak with a dominating 13-1 victory Sunday against the No. 17/19 Ole Miss Rebels (19-6, 4-2 SEC). After falling 3-2 in a tight first game and being trounced in the second game 15-3, the Gators rebounded with three RBI apiece from freshman catcher Austin Maddox (2-4, two runs) and sophomore outfielder Daniel Pigott (1-4) as well as 5.1 solid innings from freshman starter Brian Johnson (2-1). Johnson did not allow a single earned run in the outing.

Catch up on No. 6/13 softball, No. 4 women’s tennis and No. 6 men’s tennis!
Continue Reading » SIX BITS: Knight, NCAAs, baseball, softball, tennis

Tags: Alabama Crimson Tide, Alexandre Lacroix, All-America, Allie Will, Antoine Benneteau, Austin Maddox, baseball, Brandon Knight, Brian Johnson, Conor Dwyer, Corrie Brooks, Daniel Pigott, diving, Ensley Gammel, Kentucky Wildcats, Lauren Embree, Linder Stadium, Marrit Boonstra, National Championship, NCAA, NCAA Championships, Ole Miss Rebels, Ring Tennis Complex, SEC, softball, Stephanie Brombacher, Swimmer of the Year, swimming, tennis, Texas Longhorns

1 » Florida Gators student-athletes get plenty of respect but not much is ever written about their parents who, in some cases, are truly amazing people in their own right. Sure, some are ex-football or basketball stars, but there are others like right tackle redshirt junior Marcus Gilbert’s father Jeff who is a Secret Service agent for President Barack Obama. One of these such parents is freshman left tackle Xavier Nixon’s mother Fotini, a United States soldier in training to acquire the rank of E-9. After learning her son was earning his first start in the Orange and Blue, Fotini cried. But it was Xavier who had reason to be emotional just a few weeks prior when he heard about the shootings at Fort Hood, where his mother is stationed as she trains in the Sergeant Major Academy. “Thank God she was safe,” he said.

2 » Redshirt sophomore Rebecca Lowe was named South Regional Female Athlete of the Year while head coach Todd Morgan was named South Regional Women’s Coach of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Association on Wednesday. Lowe, a standout for the No. 5 Gators, won the 2009 NCAA South Region Championship and 2009 Southeastern Conference individual title this season, leading the third-ranked Florida team to their third regional title in the program’s history. She was also named the 2009 SEC Cross Country Female Athlete of the Year last week. She will try to continue her hot streak as the Gators compete in the NCAA Championships on Monday, Nov. 23, in Terre Haute, IN.

News on Reggie Nelson, baseball, softball, swimming and diving after the jump…
Continue Reading » FOUR BITS: Nixon’s mom at Fort Hood, Lowe & Morgan honored, Nelson struggling, new commits

Tags: Alana Pezevic, Alicia Mathieu, All-Rookie Team, Barack Obama, baseball, cross country, diving, Elizabeth Beisel, Hannah Rodgers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Jacob Tillotson, Julia Treible, Kaitlin Frehling, Marcus Gilbert, NCAA Championships, NFL, Rebecca Lowe, Reggie Nelson, SEC, softball, Stephen Lichtner, swimming, Todd Morgan, track & field, Trish Regan, Xavier Nixon