Gators clinch SEC, defeat Vols

November 17th, 2006

Junior opposite hitter Amber McCray recorded 21 kills on .326 hitting as the seventh-ranked University of Florida volleyball team won sole possession of its 16th consecutive Southeastern Conference title by defeating Tennessee 3-1 (30-15, 30-28, 29-31, 30-28) on Friday night before the third largest crowd ever at the Stokely Athletics Center.

Florida (25-2 overall, 18-1 SEC) picked up its 25th victory of the season to extend its streak of collecting at least 25 wins to 16 consecutive years – the longest stretch in the nation. Florida held its opponent to under .200 hitting for the 13th time in the last 16 matches as Tennessee hit .156, while the Gators hit .239. Florida also finished with more kills (71-65), digs (80-70) and blocks (17.0-11.0).

“My hat’s off to Tennessee because they played very well tonight,” Florida coach Mary Wise said. “Tennessee is an NCAA Tournament team and they played inspired. But we won the SEC Championship outright tonight and I’m very proud of our team.”

The Gators picked up just the fifth win in the last 42 tries for Tennessee opponents at the Stokely Center and did so by limiting the Lady Vols to 11.0 total blocks after UT entered the match ranked 17th in the nation at 3.23 blocks per game.

Sophomore middle blocker Kelsey Bowers also had a banner match with a career-high 15 kills on .414 hitting, while also adding six blocks.

Junior setter Angie McGinnis became the fastest player in Florida history to reach 4,000 assists and just the third overall by picking up 61 assists in the match, while adding 14 digs, four blocks and four kills.

Freshman libero Elyse Cusack picked up a pair of noteworthy accomplishments in breaking the Gator record for consecutive matches in double figures in digs by a libero with her 23rd straight match after notching a match-high 19 digs. She also moved into fifth place on the Florida single season digs chart and now has 430.

Junior Marcie Hampton added 11 kills and 11 digs to become the first player in UF history to reach 300 in a season in their first three years.

Florida will conclude the SEC season when the Gators return home to face Kentucky on Senior Day on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. (ET). Fans can be admitted free to the match by bringing at least two canned goods in helping Florida with the Harvest Food Drive.