When a team features just one senior in the final match of its campaign, it usually comes back the next year with many of the same faces and can pick up right where it left off.
But for the 2010 Florida volleyball team, the opposite is true.
Thanks to an eventful transfer season, the Gators lost a pair of significant contributors from a young 2009 team, as Brynja Rodgers and Colleen Ward decided to take their talents elsewhere.
In an attempt to fill the void left by these departures, UF coach Mary Wise brought in a trio of transfers of her own. They expect to have an immediate impact once the season begins.
“We just have to accept that maybe (Rodgers and Ward) felt they weren’t a fit for our program,” junior Kristy Jaeckel said. “We have people coming in that are extremely dedicated to the program and who are excited to be here, and those are the kind of people that we want here in our gym.”
The most notable of these transfers is junior outside hitter Stephanie Ferrell, who in was a second-team All-Western Athletic Conference performer for a Hawaii squad that made it all the way to the Final Four before falling to undefeated Penn State in 2009.
Ferrell, who left Hawaii after a dispute with her former coach, opted to make the move to Florida due to the level of competition in the Southeastern Conference, the school’s high national standing and Wise’s reputation.
Wise, like many other coaches throughout college volleyball, was first exposed to Ferrell while watching her play in the Final Four.
“I saw her play in the semifinals last year in Tampa where she went off for six kills in the first set, and I thought that wasn’t too shabby,” Wise said. “It took a while for all of the stars to line up for the transfer to happen and for her to get into the University of Florida, and the day she arrived I almost couldn’t believe it. I almost had to pinch myself.”
Ferrell expects her Final Four experience and leadership to be just as valuable to the team as her high-octane and hard-hitting style of play, which has already caught the attention of junior Kelly Murphy.
“Stephanie really brings a lot of energy,” Murphy said. “She plays harder than anyone I’ve seen in a long time, and I think that’s going to help us a lot.”’
While Ferrell will play a major role in replacing Ward’s 3.09 kills per set, the burden will not fall on her alone. The Gators also brought in junior outside hitter Cinthya Roberto from Blinn (Texas) Junior College to lighten the load.
Roberto enters UF as the only two-time first-team All-American in Blinn’s history. She also won a national championship there in 2008.
“Being with that team gave me a lot of experience and playing time in important situations,” Roberto said. “I feel more prepared and ready for a great season ahead with the Gators.”
While Roberto already understands what it’s like to play for a winning team in high-pressure conditions, the level of competition she faces on a week-to-week basis at Florida figures to be superior to anything she saw in junior college.
Still, the only junior college player the Gators have ever brought in over the course of Wise’s 19-year tenure is confident she will make a smooth transition.
“It’s going to be really intense and everything is going to be new, but with the help of my teammates and my new coaches everything is going to be fine,” Roberto said.
Although she will be playing at the outside hitter spot, her most notable contributions will likely be on defense and in service reception.
“Cinthya is a very good back row player,” Murphy said. “She has great ball control, and that’s something we really needed to work on.”
Also providing extra defensive support for the Gators will be transfer Tangerine Wiggs. She doesn’t bring as much experience as the other two transfers, but Wise expects her to help the team with her ability to rack up blocks.
She appeared in just 10 sets for Washington State in 2009 and comes in as an opposite hitter.
The 6-foot-2 sophomore adds some size to a relatively small squad, and hopes to make an immediate contribution wherever she can.
“I’m hoping to make an impact in blocking as well as on the offensive side,” Wiggs said. “Really everyone is fitting into a great role here, and whatever impact I can make for the team, I will. Whatever role Mary would like me to take and the team wants me to be in I’ll accept.”
