UF volleyball faces Tennessee

It’s not often Florida has to rebound from a volleyball defeat at the O’Connell Center. The No. 5 Gators have to do just that Sunday against visiting Tennessee starting at 1:30 p.m.

Florida closes out its four-match homestand looking to bounce back from a five-set loss to No. 15 Kentucky on Friday night. The loss marked the first home regular-season SEC defeat for the Gators since falling to Tennessee on Nov. 14, 2004. Florida ended its streak of 21 consecutive home victories.

The Gators (10-2, 4-1 SEC) played their fourth five-set match of the season Friday and were led by sophomore right-side/setter Kelly Murphy, who turned in her ninth career triple-double with a career-high-tying 20 kills on .424 hitting with 27 assists and 14 digs.

“This weekend is as good of SEC volleyball as we’ve ever had coming to the O’Connell Center for both matches,” Florida coach Mary

Wise said. “The level of play in the SEC makes us a better team. The SEC is not getting any easier on Sunday. Our test is to be able to get a split this weekend.”

Florida is led by sophomore outside hitter Colleen Ward, who averages a squad-best 3.41 kills per set and entered the weekend ranked fourth in the SEC in kills per set. Sophomore outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel follows with 2.98 kills per set, while Murphy adds 2.96 put-downs per set. Murphy also dishes out a squad-best 6.22 assists per set.

Senior libero Elyse Cusack is the squad’s digs leader, averaging 4.11 scoops per set, while sophomore middle blocker Cassandra Anderson averages a team-high 1.15 blocks per set.

The Vols (10-4, 3-1) have won four in a row and five of their last six matches, with their league loss coming in a five-set thriller against LSU in Baton Rouge, La. UT took a 3-1 win at South Carolina on Friday night, dropping the first set 25-19 before rebounding with 25-20, 25-21, 25-16 victories in the final three frames.

UT is led the reigning SEC Offensive Player of the Week Nikki Fowler, who averages a squad-best 3.21 kills per set and is second on the team in digs with 3.15 per set.