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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Visiting Florida No Picnic Gators’ Prowess At Home Has Made Them Not A Desirable Destination

Florida volleyball coach Mary Wise is getting ready to hose down the Gators’ welcome mat.

Come this time of year - days before the NCAA volleyball selection committee decides who goes where for the playoffs - getting shipped out to the traditionally weaker Central Regional sounds pretty good to most teams.

“It’s a little insulting,” said Wise, the seventh-year coach, who has built the No. 4 Gators’ into national powers. “What they really mean to say is, ‘If we would go to Florida, we know we’ll be treated well and we can enjoy the weather.”’

The Gators, regional hosts four of the past five years, are once again on track to be at home the weekend before the Dec. 18-20 NCAA Volleyball Championship at the Arena. During Wise’s tenure, the Gators are 117-5 at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.

So why the desire to play Florida at Florida? It’s hard to shake that weak-link image, and past performances at the Final Four haven’t helped.

The Gators qualified for the Final Four in 1992, ‘93 and ‘96, but never made it to the final match. Last year, Florida lost to Hawaii in the semifinals, which went on to get drilled by Stanford in the championship match.

The Gators (26-1) play in the Southeastern Conference, a powerhouse in women’s hoops, but light years away in volleyball. This year, they won the SEC for the seventh straight year, posting a 13-0 record. If they win the SEC Tournament this weekend in Athens, Ga., it’ll be their sixth tournament title in seven years.

Lofty achievements, indeed, but hardly enough to impress the Stanfords of the world. So Wise set out to do something about it.

This year, the Gators played several ranked teams and still have No. 24 UCLA and others on their schedule. If UF beats the Bruins at the Thanksgiving weekend Pacific Tournament, it will play either No. 13 Pepperdine or No. 19 Pacific in the four-team tournament.

They’ve already defeated then-No. 3 Nebraska, then-No. 10 Brigham Young and split with then-No. 3 and current No. 1 Long Beach State. Last spring, the Gators traveled to Europe, where they played 10 matches in 11 days, mostly against national junior teams.

Enough to make other tournament teams cringe at the thought of playing at Florida, a team that averages more than 2,000 fans per match?

“I think this year, because of our strength of schedule and the significant wins, all that wanting to travel here is thrown out the window,” said Wise. “And over the course of time, it hasn’t proven to be that easy a route. Just ask Michigan State.”

Last year, the Spartans lost to Florida in the regional finals.

The Gators’ success has been built around middle blocker Nina Foster, a second-year Alabama transfer from Mission Viejo, Calif. The 6-foot-2 senior, named AVCA player of the week the first week of the season, is second in the nation in hitting accuracy (.445) and averages 4.07 kills per game. Foster finished with 30 kills Sunday against her former Alabama team.

The Gators’ other middle blocker, freshman Heather Wright, was put into the starting lineup three weeks ago when junior Jeni Jones came down with an illness.

“We’re a much more athletic team than we’ve been in the past,” Wise said.

Leading the way on the outside is second team All-American Aurymar Rodriguez. The 6-1 senior from Puerto Rico averages 3.52 kills per game. Sophomore outside hitter Jenny Manz, one of just four Floridians on the team, ranks third with 3.41 blocks per game.

Fifth-year senior setter Nikki Shade, who played with a stress fracture last year, is back at full strength.

Wise said if the heavily-favored Gators win the SEC Tournament and the Pacific Tournament, they’ll be all but guaranteed home court at regionals.

And once again, some western U.S. teams will have to make the long trip to Florida.

, DataTimes