Sophomore outside hitter Stephanie Ferrell and the Gators know how to start out on the right foot — or ankle.
No. 9 Florida dominated the Active Ankle SEC/ACC Challenge during the weekend, sweeping Boston College (25-11, 25-15, 25-16) and North Carolina (25-17, 25-20, 25-14) in straight sets.
In perhaps the most telling statistic of the two-day tournament, the Gators recorded a hitting percentage of .327 while their Atlantic Coast Conference opponents managed a meager .092.
The only time the Gators broke a sweat during the weekend came in a back-and-forth second set with the Tar Heels.
“(UNC) did a much better job hitting around the block and forcing our defense (in the second set),” UF coach Mary Wise said.
“They’re a very well-coached team and you can see why they won a lot of matches last year.”
Leading the way for the Gators was Ferrell, who was named the Active Ankle SEC/ACC Challenge’s Most Valuable Player.
Ferrell recorded 20 kills during the weekend and had a .382 hitting percentage, a marked improvement over her career clip of .232.
“She’s going to be a streaky player and when she’s hot as she was in back-to-back matches, then our team will really benefit from that,” Wise said.
“It’s not been an easy transition for her — I think for any transfer, there’s so many adjustments to be made and there were times when she and I both wondered if we were going to get to this point – but no player has worked harder to get to this.”
Ferrell beat out senior outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel, who had a solid case of her own for tournament MVP.
Jaeckel recorded 19 kills and 14 digs in UF’s two games, including a double-double (12 kills, 10 digs) in the win against the Tar Heels.
“When the match started, Kristy left some digs out there, but as the match went on, she did a much better job,” Wise said.
“For her to finish with a double-double, that’s the type of performance that we need out of our outside hitters.”
However, Jaeckel’s biggest contribution of the weekend came late in the second set against North Carolina.
The Gators and Tar Heels went back and forth until two late digs by Jaeckel helped seal a 25-20 win.
“As a team, we kind of lost focus a little bit, but with those two digs, we regrouped and bounced back,” Ferrell said. “Kristy motivated the whole team and created momentum and we just rode the wave.”
Ferrell and Jaeckel were two of the four Gators named to the Active Ankle SEC/ACC Challenge All-Tournament team, joining senior setter Kelly Murphy and redshirt freshman libero Taylor Unroe.
After redshirting the 2010 season because of a broken bone in her ankle, Unroe finally made her collegiate debut.
“Last year was pretty much terrible sitting on the bench,” Unroe said. “Now I get to go out there and do what I’ve been doing my whole life, so it feels great.”
The redshirt freshman defensive specialist adjusted well, recording a team-high 19 digs in two games.
“I’m sure she shocked everyone, but it’s no surprise to us how great she is and how hard she works,” Jaeckel said.
“We’ve been lucky to have her since last year.”
Florida outside hitter Stephanie Ferrell was named the Active Ankle SEC/ACC Challenge’s Most Valuable Player after recording 20 kills and hitting .382 in two games during the weekend.
Outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel was named to the Active Ankle ACC/SEC Challenge All-Tournament team.
