Williams named SEC Freshman of the Week

GAINESVILLE -  Redshirt freshman Janine Williams on Tuesday was named the volleyball SEC Freshman of the Week.

Williams led all players at last weekend’s Campus USA Credit Union Invitational with seven service aces, including a career-high three versus N.C. State, to help the sixth-ranked Gators (5-0) to the
tournament title. UF swept through its competition on the weekend, defeating Georgia Southern, N.C. State and No. 19 Santa Clara by 3-0 scores.

Through the first five matches of the season, Williams is averaging 1.81 kills per game on a hitting efficiency of .324, and her 0.50 aces per game and total of 40.5 points both rank third on the team.
She and sophomore libero/defensive specialist Elyse Cusack are the only two players on the roster to have seen action in all 16 games this season.

Florida will be in action again on Wednesday night, when in-state rival Florida State visits the Stephen C. O’Connell Center for a 7 p.m. match. UF has won 38-consecutive matches against teams from Florida , and owns a 16-4 all-time record against the ‘Noles in Gainesville.

Volleyball Preseason top 10

GAINESVILLE - The volleyball team is ranked No. 7 in preseason rankings by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. It is the 11th year in a row the Gators have been a preseason top-10 team, joining Nebraska and Stanford with that distinction.

The Gators have also been picked to win the SEC title, which would be their 17th consecutive championship.

Florida returns seven starters and more than 90 percent of its kills, assists, blocks and points from last season.

Hampton to Play With National Team

GAINESVILLE - Marcie Hampton is one of five college athletes chosen to participate in the US Women's National Volleyball Team program this summer.

She was selected based on an open tryout in February in Colorado Springs. Hampton, who will be a senior next season, will be to train with the U.S. Women's Naitonal Team in May.

Since 2001, 10 current and former UF players have been selected for the 25 national team slots, including the U.S. Junior National Team, the A2 Team and the U.S. Junior National A2 Team.

UF falls in volleyball

The Gators won a national title in basketball this year, will play for another one in football next month, but hopes for a title in volleyball were dashed Friday night in Gainesville.

No. 8 seed Minnesota beat Florida 3-1 (23-30, 30-25, 21-30, 26-20) at the O'Connell Center. The Gophers (26-7) advanced to the region final at 4 p.m. today and faces No. 1 seed Nebraska, which beat San Diego.

Florida (30-3) lost at home in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1995. The team reached 30 wins for the 12th time in 16 seasons under coach Mary Wise.