Gators set the tone for SEC volleyball

When the pairings for volleyball’s regional semifinals were set last year, University of Florida coach Mary Wise found her herself in an unusual situation.

It wasn’t that the Gators were serving as a host site, or had advanced to the equivalent of the Sweet 16. Wise, who had been named a Division I head coach at the remarkable age of 21, is the only female volleyball coach to appear in more than one national semifinal, she reached the 500-win plateau faster than any other Division I female coach, and from 1994-04 Florida didn’t lose a single SEC match.

Rather, it was because even though Florida was riding a 22-game winning streak, and 30-2 overall, it still wasn’t favored against Minnesota, which had played in two of the previous three Final Fours.

“In terms of the seeding, we are the underdog,” Wise said at the time. “That’s not a place we get to be very often. If we can have some fun with it we will.”

She, and the Gators, weren’t able to that day, losing 3-1 (23-30, 30-25, 21-30, 26-20), but Florida maintained its status as the team to beat in conference as evidenced by the Tuscaloosa News SEC Cup rankings, which measure athletic success over the past 15 years, since it expanded to 12 schools in 1992-93.

Last season, the Gators tied an SEC record by winning their 16th consecutive league title, reached 30 wins for the 12th time during that span, and boasted the conference’s player of the year (Angie McGinnis).

Florida also established team records for kills (16.94) and digs per game (18.79), while finishing in the top 30 in the nation in kills, digs, hitting percentage (.292), blocks (3.39) and assists per game (15.52).

Although volleyball is still largely considered a West Coast sport, with the national championships having been split by Stanford, Hawaii, Long Beach State, Nebraska, Southern California, Penn State, Texas and Washington, Florida has been the one obvious exception in this region.

Since 1992, the Gators have played in seven national semifinals, the most of any East Coast school, and twice Wise has been named the national coach of the year, to go with 10 SEC Coach of the Year awards.

Although Florida’s status atop the SEC remains solid, the rest of the conference has closed the gap in terms of talent, as evidenced by a record seven teams receiving invitations to the NCAA Tournament last year.

In comparison, the SEC never had more than four bids prior to 2005. While Alabama made its first appearance two years ago, last season it was Ole Miss’ turn.

“It’s a bittersweet ending to the best year of volleyball in Ole Miss history,” SEC coach of the year Joe Getzin said after losing to Southern California. “I can’t say enough about the seniors on this team and the leadership they displayed this season. We have set a new standard for Ole Miss volleyball. It’s not a standard I’m worried about, though, because we have a core group of underclassmen who are coming back and aren’t satisfied with the end result we saw tonight.

“This is the proudest moment of my coaching career.”