Senior outside hitter Jane Collymore (Englewood,
Colo.) posted her 31st career
double-double and finished with a match-high 16 kills as No. 8 University of
Florida defeated Jacksonville for the 13th straight time Monday evening 3-0
(30-19, 30-17, 30-20) at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
Collymore tallied 16 kills on .410 hitting with 10 digs, while sophomore setter Angie McGinnis (Fraser, Mich.)
had a solid all-around outing with 41 assists, eight digs, five kills and one
block. The Gators (1-0) finished with more kills (55-25) and blocks (8.0-4.0)
while out-hitting Jacksonville
(0-4) .331 to .047.
"I keep thinking back to where we were
a year ago and how much further along this team is," Florida coach Mary Wise said. "I was
most pleased with the serve receive from Marcie, Jane and Rachel."
Sophomore right-side hitter Amber McCray (Longview, Texas) played
in her first match since the 2003 season and set a career high with 10 kills on
.350 hitting, while sophomore outside hitter Marcie Hampton (Gainesville, Fla.) tallied the 10th double-double
of her career with 10 kills on .455 hitting with 10 digs. Senior libero Rachel Engel (Littleton, Colo.)
notched 18 digs and is just nine shy of 800 in her career. The Gators moved to
13-0 all-time against Jacksonville
and 11-4 in season openers under Wise, including a 9-1 mark at home.
The opening game began following the
ceremonial first serve in which Florida
president Bernie Machen
initiated the Gators' 2005 season. Florida
battled back and forth with the Dolphins before slowly pulling away mid-game.
With the Gators leading 16-14, Florida
went on a 7-2 run to move on top 23-16 with Collymore
pounding out three kills in the stretch. Jacksonville
closed within six at 24-18, but the Gators scored six of the final eight points
to seal the game with a Dolphin attack error ending the opening stanza at
30-19. Collymore had nine kills and five digs in the
game with McGinnis chipping in four kills and Engel adding six digs.
The Gators came out strong in the second
game, scorching out to a 6-2 lead behind the serve of Collymore
and a pair of kills from McCray and Hampton. Florida extended its lead to six at 15-9 and
the Dolphins never threatened afterwards. With the score 21-14, the Gators
scored six straight points on McGinnis' serve with a pair of kills from McCray
before she finished Jacksonville
off with a kill at 30-17. McCray had six kills in the game with Hampton adding four and Engel notching eight digs as Hampton added seven.
The closing game was much of the same with Florida streaking out to
a 12-6 lead with McGinnis again providing a strong serve to start the frame.
The Dolphins were as close as five at 14-9, but the Gators reeled off eight of
the next 10 points to take a commanding 22-11 advantage before freshman middle
blocker Kelsey Bowers (Gainesville, Fla.)
ended the match with a kill at 30-20. Collymore again
paced the team with six kills in the game with Hampton adding four.
Florida will return
to action when the Gators host the Aquafina
Volleyball Invitational Sept. 2-3 at the O'Connell Center.
Play opens Friday when Missouri State faces No. 15 UC-Santa Barbara at 10 a.m. with Florida taking on Dayton
at noon. UCSB will battle Dayton at 5:30 p.m.
Friday evening before Florida closes out the
night with a contest against Missouri
State at 7:30 p.m. On Saturday,
Dayton will play Missouri State
at 1 p.m. with the Gators set to face UCSB at 3:30 p.m.
The Gator matches against Dayton
and UCSB will both be webcast on www.GatorZone.com, while the contest against Missouri State will be carried live on Rock 104.
The Dayton matchup can also be seen on GatorVision
Online.
For the Saturday match, a shuttle to the
O'Connell Center from the Oaks Mall will begin at 2:30 p.m.
