Florida secured a share of the Southeastern Conference title last weekend.
This weekend the No. 1 Gators (24-1, 17-0, SEC) will try to make sure they are the only ones receiving an SEC title trophy.
UF will get its first shot to clinch the conference crown against Arkansas (13-15, 7-10) tonight at 8 in Fayetteville, Ark.
“We go to Arkansas with last year’s freshman player of the year in the league now as a sophomore,” coach Mary Wise said. “They are a team that plays very well at home and, prior to this past weekend, going on the road they have won four straight.”
The Gators defeated the Razorbacks in straight sets 3-0 (25-19, 25-13, 25-17) on Oct. 3 in Gainesville.
Florida limited Arkansas sophomore Jasmine Norton to just four kills on 18 total attacks and a .000 hitting percentage.
“They are one of those teams, a young team, but they are so much better playing at home than they are on the road,” Wise said. “We’ll talk to our players that the Arkansas team that we saw in the O’Connell Center weeks ago will look very different in Fayetteville.”
The Gators will then travel to Baton Rouge, La., where they will take on No. 17 LSU (23-3, 14-3) on Sunday at 2:30 p.m.
“And then Sunday’s match against LSU, a top-20 team that plays some very fast offense,” Wise said. “This will be as big a weekend for us as we’ve had all year to play both of them on the road.”
Florida earned its share of the conference title after LSU was upset by Kentucky on Nov. 14. The Tigers need the Gators to lose their remaining three matches in order to get their own share of the title.
The Gators defeated LSU 3-1 (25-16, 20-25, 25-22, 25-18) on Oct. 1 in Gainesville.
“The good news is that I feel like we’re playing solid volleyball and we have gotten so much better than the last time we played both these teams and hope that will bear out and help us this weekend,” Wise said.
