Gator Volleyball History & Links
Gator Volleyball History & Links
| 2006 Gator Volleyball Year In Review |
It's a fairly accepted notion that the old adage "History repeats itself" exists for a reason - namely that it's continuously proven true. For concrete evidence, look no further than the University of Florida volleyball team. The 2006 Gators sparkled in every conceivable way - just as their UF volleyball predecessors had for each of the previous 15 seasons. In 2006, Florida again left its mark on the collegiate volleyball world as the Gators tied a Southeastern Conference record with their 16th consecutive league title before advancing to the program's 15th NCAA Regional Semifinal in the last 16 years. But the list of accomplishments doesn't end there - UF boasted the SEC's Player of the Year (Angie McGinnis), had its first National Player of the Week since 2000 (Elyse Cusack), had a pair of All-Americans (Amber McCray & McGinnis) and broke the school records for both kills per game (16.94) and digs per game (18.79), while finishing in the top 30 in the nation in kills, digs, hitting percentage (.292), blocks per game (3.39) and assists per game (15.52).
The campaign opened in late August when redshirt freshman middle blocker Kristina Johnson began her career with match highs in kills (12) and points (14.0) as UF swept South Florida - Florida's 35th consecutive win against opponents from the Sunshine State. The Gators were then tested immediately by facing off against No. 24 Utah the following day - a team that went on to rise into the top 10 toward the end of the season. McGinnis answered the call with the second triple-double of her career with 56 assists, 11 digs and 10 kills as she was named the Aquafina Invitational MVP. Marcie Hampton and Cusack joined McGinnis on the All-Tournament team after stellar performances. The test was just beginning for the Gators as UF hopped aboard a plane and spent nine hours on a flight from Atlanta to Honolulu where Florida was slated to face No. 7 Hawai'i, No. 10 UCLA and Colorado (receiving votes) in back-to-back-to-back days at the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Classic Sept. 1-3. Despite playing at 1 a.m. Eastern time on Sept. 2, Florida swept Hawai'i at home for just the 18th time in the Rainbow Wahine's storied history in front of a crowd of more than 8,000 fans in UF's first televised match of the season. Hampton paced the Gators with 14 kills and 12 digs. Florida had little time to regroup as less than 24 hours later, UF found itself on the court with the eventual national runner-up Bruins. UCLA proved too much for the Gators in a 3-0 sweep, though Florida did hold late leads in both the first and second games. The Gators rebounded nicely to cap the tournament as Florida swept Colorado - the only team to defeat national champion Nebraska in 2006. Hampton and McGinnis earned All-Tournament recognition for their efforts.
Three days later, the Gators capped their pre-conference slate with a 3-1 victory at Florida State in UF's fourth televised match of the season. McGinnis had seven kills in the match and, in doing so, broke the school record of 279 career kills by a setter previously held by Jen Sanchez. The Gators opened SEC play with a road match at Georgia and had to face the Bulldogs without Cusack, who missed four straight matches with a stress fracture. Florida persevered and head coach Mary Wise claimed the 500th victory of her career at UF to become just the second coach in school history in any sport to reach 500 wins as a Gator. Florida then traveled to South Carolina where UF ran into one of the top outside hitters in the nation in Shonda Cole, who guided the Gamecocks to a 3-1 win before being named the AVCA National Player of the Week for her efforts. Kisya Killingsworth certainly wasn't shabby either as the junior became the first Gator since 2002 to reach at least 20 kills and digs in the same match with 23 kills and 20 digs. UF came home to take care of Auburn in three games on Sept. 20 before the Gators got their block on against Alabama four days later. Specifically, Bowers was a blocking machine with 10 total blocks with the team collecting 16.0 in a three-game win. The Gators then traveled to Lexington where UF played its only five-game match of the season in a thriller against the Wildcats. McCray was dynamite and finished with 24 kills - including 10 in the fourth game alone. Florida faced its first ranked SEC team of the season when No. 17 Tennessee came to Gainesville on Oct. 1, but the ranking didn't matter to UF as the Gators swept the Lady Vols in front of 3,250 fans. Florida hit the road for Mississippi where UF first faced the Bulldogs and swept Mississippi State as Wise claimed her 20th win in as many matches against MSU. UF then took on Mississippi two days later and senior Stefanie Douglas toasted the Rebels for a career-high 13 kills on .750 hitting. UF battled Arkansas on Oct. 13 before a gathering of 5,722 rabid Gator fans - the sixth-largest crowd in school history. The rowdy fans helped UF cruise to a sweep of the Lady Backs to setup a matchup with No. 13 LSU two days later. With the Tigers and Gators tied atop the SEC standings, Florida became the first team in 2006 to sweep LSU as McCray led UF with 14 kills with Florida taking sole possession of first place in the race for the SEC title. On Oct. 20, South Carolina arrived in Gainesville and Florida avenged its only league loss with a sweep of the Gamecocks as UF shut down Shonda Cole - then No. 2 in the nation in kills per game - with McCray collecting 12 kills to lead the Gators. UF capped the weekend with a 3-0 victory against Georgia as UF made its seventh television appearance of the year. TV watchers and fans were treated as McGinnis recorded the third triple-double of her career with 41 assists, 14 digs and 10 kills as the Gators won their 42nd consecutive contest against Georgia. Florida went on the road for a televised match at Auburn on Oct. 25 and the Tigers gave the Gators all they had, but UF claimed a 3-1 win with Killingsworth providing 21 kills on .333 hitting. Florida traveled to Tuscaloosa two days later and Bowers had the Tide's number again as she broke the school record for block assists in a match with 13 to give UF its 20th victory of the season. The win against Alabama setup a classic showdown in Baton Rouge on Nov. 3 with the 11th-ranked Tigers. In front of the largest crowd to watch an LSU match since 1992 (1,684), Florida escaped the hostile environment with a 3-1 win with Cusack breaking the school record with an incredible 46 digs - tied for the sixth most in a four-game match in NCAA history. Florida capped the two-week road swing with a hard-fought 3-1 victory at Arkansas with McCray pacing UF with 20 kills on .543 hitting. With just four conference matches left to play, Florida held a two-match advantage over LSU. The Gators welcomed Mississippi to the O'Connell Center on Nov. 8 and Hampton helped lead UF to its 24th consecutive win against the Rebels in a sweep. The Gators accomplished the same feat against Mississippi State four days later to clinch at least a share of the program's 16th straight SEC title to tie the Arkansas men's cross country team for the most consecutive conference crowns won in league history in any sport. But the SEC season was far from over. In the team's ninth televised match of the season, Florida traveled to Knoxville to face the always tough Lady Vols. In a rugged 3-1 victory in which each of the final three games were decided by two points, Florida pulled out a win with McCray leading UF with 21 kills as the Gators claimed their 25th win of the year. It marked the 16th straight campaign the Gators reached at least 25 victories - the longest streak in the nation.
The Gators next served as the host school for the Conference Challenge in Orlando featuring SEC teams Florida and LSU against Big East squads St. John's and Marquette. UF opened with the Golden Eagles and claimed a tough 3-0 win as Wise earned the 600th overall victory of her coaching career. On Nov. 25, Florida closed out the tournament by sweeping a St. John's team that entered the contest with a 30-3 record. The victory was the 20th consecutive for the Gators on the season and helped Hampton to tournament MVP honors with McGinnis joining her on the All-Tournament team. With expectations of playing on the road to open NCAA Championship play, the Gators were pleasantly surprised to find out they would be hosting first and second round action in the O'Connell Center when the selection show aired and UF was award the No. 9 national seed. That meant having to face Florida A&M on Nov. 30 in the first round and UF proved up to the challenge. The Gators hit a season-best .429 in the match with Hampton collecting 21 kills on .559 hitting. Arizona State battled UF in the second round and proved a tough test, but Florida triumphed in four games with McCray collecting 22 kills and Bowers setting the school record for block assists in an NCAA match with 10. The Gators had reached the 30-win plateau for the 12th time in 16 seasons under Wise and had advanced to NCAA Regional Semifinal action for the 15th time in 16 seasons. Florida hosted regional play in front of 4,180 fans as the Gators battled eighth-seeded Minnesota in the Sweet 16. The Gophers played terrific defense and got the best of Florida in four games before going on to give eventual national champion Nebraska its biggest scare in taking the first two games before falling 3-2 to the Huskers in Gainesville. 2006 was another season for the record books and another campaign of perpetual Gator history. With only two seniors departing from the team and all seven starters returning in 2007, the Gators certainly possess a tremendous opportunity to contribute more to the storied tradition of Florida volleyball. 2006 Team Achievements
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| 2006 Individual Honors |
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Alli Cecchini
Elyse Cusack
Christina Diaz
Stefanie Douglas
Marcie Hampton
Kisya Killingsworth
Kari Klinkenborg
Amber McCray
Janine Williams
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| 2006 Records Broken |
Individual
Marcie Hampton
Kristina Johnson
Angie McGinnis
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| In the Top 10 In 2006 |
Elyse Cusack
Rhian Davis
Marcie Hampton
Kristina Johnson
Amber McCray
Angie McGinnis
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What Florida achieved in 2006 alone takes countless schools a decade and that tremendous volume of success - perpetual history at UF - again transpired.
After a lengthy red-eye flight from Honolulu to Salt Lake City, the Gators eventually returned to Gainesville where UF hosted the Campus USA Credit Union Classic. Florida defeated Central Florida in winning its 36th consecutive mach against in-state opponents in front of a crowd of 3,022 fans before McGinnis squared off against her younger sister, Mary, when UF swept Illinois State the following day to close out the tournament. McCray was named the tournament MVP with McGinnis and Kelsey Bowers joining her on the All-Tournament team.
Florida concluded SEC play by returning home immediately after the Tennessee match to face Kentucky on Nov. 19 in another televised contest. The Wildcats were tough, but Florida earned a sweep to cap the SEC season with a 19-1 record - the most wins in league play by any team in SEC history.
Kelsey Bowers
Rhian Davis
Kristina Johnson
Angie McGinnis
Team
Elyse Cusack
Amber McCray
Team
Individual
Alli Cecchini
Christina Diaz
Kisya KillingsworthSocial
