Redshirt senior Betsy Smith is the only player who was around for the end of Florida’s last era of dominance.
With Smith watching from the bench during her redshirt season in 2008, the Gators captured the last of 18 straight Southeastern Conference regular season championships.
While Florida remains an SEC powerhouse — its 19 SEC titles are 14 more than the five each won by tied second-place schools Kentucky, Tennessee and LSU — the gap appears to be closing.
During the last six seasons, the Gators have lost 11 SEC games, compared to only seven in Mary Wise’s first 15 years as UF’s head coach.
Florida is 53-7 during Smith’s career, including an SEC title in 2010, but LSU claimed the championship in 2009 and Tennessee secured it in 2011, providing a challenge to nearly two decades of UF dominance.
This year’s Florida squad is in danger of reaching a new low: going two consecutive seasons without an SEC championship.
The No. 13 Gators (6-2) will be looking to start their journey back to the top when they play their first SEC match against Arkansas (9-2) tonight at 8 in Fayetteville, Ark.
Florida will then travel to Lexington, Ky., to face No. 24 Kentucky (6-4) on Sunday at 1 p.m.
“To start the SEC with this challenging road trip is not going to be easy for our team,” Wise said. “It’ll be a great test for this young Gator team.”
Wise said the Gators’ nonconference opponents, including two top-10 teams, have prepared her squad for league play — the more hostile and aggressive part of the season.
Smith said competing against conference teams requires an entirely different mindset than playing other schools.
“The SEC is a really physical conference so we’re going to see a lot of things we haven’t seen,” the team captain said. “It’ll definitely be different for some of our younger players that haven’t experienced that type of animosity before.”
On the other side of the spectrum, freshman Berkley Whaley is preparing for her first SEC game.
The outside hitter from St. Petersburg said she feels prepared for the new challenge.
“It’s going to be a new transition because it’s the SEC,” she said. “It’s here. This is what we’ve all dreamed about especially as a freshman. The coaches are all preparing us and the upperclassmen. When we’re in practice, it’s such a good environment that I think we’ll carry it into the match.”
When the Gators travel to Fayetteville, it will be their first true away game of the season. Then Florida will head to Kentucky.
The Gators are 32-2 and 44-10 all-time against the Razorbacks and Wildcats, respectively. However, Wise said she expects a challenge, as each team is in its prime with nine combined seniors.
“I’m sure we will be in for a battle,” she said.
“(They) have players who can score points. This is their year with all their returning players. But everybody starts the SEC 0-0.”
Middle blocker Betsy Smith (14) spikes the ball against Georgia Tech in a 3-1 victory on Sept. 8. The senior led the Gators with a season-high 11 blocks in Florida's sweep of Arkansas on Friday night.
