For the second time in two weeks, Florida hauled in a Southeastern Conference weekly award through the work of an underclassman.
Sophomore libero Taylor Unroe was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Week on Monday after her performances against Arkansas and No. 24 Kentucky during the weekend. Freshman outside hitter Ziva Recek was named SEC Freshman of the Week on Sept. 4.
Associate head coach Dave Boos said Unroe’s presence during the Gators’ first two SEC matches was critical to Florida’s 2-0 start in the league. He said her play against Kentucky impressed him most.
“We outdefended them . . . highlighted by Taylor Unroe,” he said. “She probably had her best match this year defensively. Really good stuff for us out there. For us to be the champ at the end of this whole thing, we have to play better defense. And Sunday was an indication that we’re on that path.”
Unroe’s weekend began with a career day against the Razorbacks in Fayetteville, Ark., on Friday. In Florida’s only five-set match this year, Unroe registered a career-high 24 digs and five assists to help the Gators earn their 22nd straight victory in an SEC opener.
She added 17 digs against Kentucky to bring her weekend total to 41. Unroe’s 5.13 digs per set on Florida’s SEC road trip raised her average digs per set on the season by .21 digs, to 4.43.
After her record-setting weekend, Unroe has the fourth-most digs per set in the SEC, even though Florida ranks last in the conference and 256th in the nation in that category.
Coach Mary Wise said her squad needs Unroe to remain the anchor for the defense as the rest of the back line continues to struggle. After Friday’s 3-2 win against Arkansas, Wise said the Gators counted on Unroe’s defense.
“It was a match that there’s no way we can win if we didn’t dig balls and Taylor stepped in and made some great digs,” Wise said. “She took care of the routine ones, and yet I would tell you that there’s six or seven that she would say, ‘I should have those.’ That’s the evolution of Taylor now in her second season.”
Unroe’s SEC Defensive Player of the Week award was the first such honor for the Gators since middle blocker Cassandra Anderson won it as a junior on Nov. 1, 2010.
Last year, as a freshman, Unroe earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors. She is the first Gator to earn both awards since Elyse Cusack won Freshman of the Week twice in 2006 and Defensive Player of the Week four times, the last coming in 2009.
Wise said her team continues to needs similar performances from Unroe whenever the Gators go on the road. She said the outcome of the game depends on how Unroe plays.
“You don’t win without your libero playing well,” she said. “It just doesn’t happen.”
Sophomore Taylor Unroe (5) returns the ball against Florida Atlantic at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center on Aug. 24.
