Sweep of Razorbacks in front of 5700 fans

October 13th, 2006

Sophomore middle blocker Kelsey Bowers and freshman middle blocker Kristina Johnson each matched their career bests in kills as #8 Florida swept Arkansas (30-24, 30-21, 30-27) before a crowd of 5,722 on Friday evening at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.

Florida (15-2 overall, 8-1 SEC) won its 71st consecutive match against teams from the SEC’s Western Division and its 16th straight match against Arkansas (10-7, 3-6). The Gators out-hit the Lady Backs .292-.173 and finished with more kills (56-42), digs (62-51), aces (5-1) and blocks (7.5-6.0).

“Kristina and Kelsey’s numbers were pretty staggering tonight,” Florida coach Mary Wise said. “Early on, we had a lot of success in getting kills in the middle and Arkansas did a nice job of adjusting to that. Game three was more indicative of what we thought the match would be like. We’ve got to come back Sunday and face LSU – one of the best offensive teams in the nation.”

Bowers tallied a team-best 13 kills on .600 hitting with three solo blocks and a block assist, while Johnson added 12 kills on .556 hitting. Junior opposite hitter Amber McCray chimed in with 11 kills on .526 hitting, while junior setter Angie McGinnis collected 46 assists, 10 digs, two aces, two kills and a block. Freshman libero Elyse Cusack finished in double figures in digs for the 13th consecutive match with 15 and is just one dig shy of tying the UF record for digs in a season by a freshman libero or defensive specialist.

Junior outside hitter Marcie Hampton barley missed a double-double with nine kills and a team-high 16 digs, while junior Kisya Killingsworth added nine kills.

The 5,722 fans ranked as the sixth-largest home crowd in Florida volleyball history and was the most fans to watch a match in the O’Connell Center since 2004.

The win sets up a battle for first place in the SEC on Sunday when #13 LSU (16-2, 8-1) travels to the O’Connell Center for a 1:30 p.m. contest. The match can be seen live via GatorVision Online and will be broadcast on WRUF-AM 850 and www.GatorZone.com.