Whoever said you can’t teach an old dog new tricks never met Mary Wise.
Although Wise has been the coach at Florida for the last 19 seasons, the 2010 campaign will feature schemes on both sides of the court that are different from anything the Gators have ever done before.
Thanks to the arrival of new assistant coach Dave Boos and an infusion of talented and versatile players, Florida will employ a number of different tactics designed to keep opponents off balance.
“Dave is like a savant in terms of what he brings to the volleyball court,” Wise said. “I had the luxury of coaching with him a few summers ago in the USA A2 program, and I told him at the time that if I could ever get him to Gainesville, I was going to try.”
Wise still vividly remembers Florida’s 2006 NCAA Tournament Regional Semifinal loss to Minnesota, where Boos was an assistant coach at the time.
Wise claims it was Boos’ unique and aggressive defense that led to her squad’s demise and hopes she can adopt a similar scheme for this year’s Florida team.
“It’s risky and we’re taking some chances, but it is different from just about everybody else in the country and our team loves it,” Wise said.
According to transfer Tangerine Wiggs, Boos’ system is one that involves a great deal of aggression in terms of blocks and digs.
“We focus on committing to the block regardless of whether its closed or not,” Wiggs said. “The defense is really working to see the hit based on the position of the block, and I think the defense is going to look great this year. We’ve really been working hard to dig up balls — only a few balls have been dropping in practice.”
On the offensive side, the team is still working on determining whether it will run the 6-2 attack that was the norm for the majority of last season or the 5-1 formation that led to a 5-1 finish, with the only loss coming to national champion Penn State.
“It’s hard to tell right now,” junior Kelly Murphy said. “We’ve been working more on the two-setter system but I think that it’s just going to depend on how the season goes match-by-match.”
While the only major fundamental difference between the 6-2 and 5-1 is the number of setters a team has on the court, the type of players needed to make each system work effectively is very unique.
For the first time in many years, Wise believes she has the personnel necessary to run either system at a high level.
“I feel very comfortable that we could go with the 6-2, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that we’ve got a run stopper and a point scorer on the right side in Tangerine Wiggs,” Wise said.
Wise also cites Murphy as a primary reason the team can be so flexible, as the junior has proven she can be dominant as both a setter and opposite hitter.
If all goes according to plan, Wise will have a team capable of changing formations at a moment’s notice, thus keeping UF’s opponents off balance.
“It’s one of those things as a coach that you’ve always wanted to do but didn’t have the personnel to do it,” Wise said. “I think this year we’ve got the personnel to do it, so it could be really fun as it develops.”
