When Madison Monserez first sees Arkansas send a ball over the net on Friday at 7 p.m. in the O’Connell Center, her mind will be shut off.
No thoughts. No questioning.
Nothing more than muscle memory.
She and the rest of No. 11 Florida’s defense are pushed to their mental limits studying film, perfecting drills and preparing in scrimmages under the supervision of coach Mary Wise.
The constant repetition of these strategies allows Wise’s players to replicate what they have learned during the week without second-guessing.
Monserez said simply reacting rather than mulling over a decision allows the defense to be quicker and more efficient on the court.
“The most important thing is not to have too many thoughts,” the sophomore defensive specialist said. “A lot of people get really flustered when you’re thinking too much about it. We’ve been practicing for so long, our bodies know what to do. The most important thing is being stopped before the contact and, when it’s being hit, just go for it with everything we have.”
Nikki O’Rourke, a freshman defensive specialist for the Gators, said Wise taught her and the rest of the back-row players a technique called “eye sequencing” so they can react faster and smarter when the ball is headed their way.
“It’s just recognizing what’s going on on the other side of the net before you’re making your dig so that you can make your correct adjustment to the ball and figure out what path you’re going to read,” she said.
The Clearwater High grad said the faster pace of collegiate volleyball forces the players to work out game situations in their heads before the ball is even in play.
“Everything is much more in-depth than I was used to, so that was a big change for me,” she said.
Wise trains her team throughout the week — and even between sets — to anticipate ball placement.
When digs become necessary, this skill will make it easier for the Gators to react.
Florida’s head coach of 22 years said volunteer assistant coach Karl Miller regularly fed the back row hard-hit attacks in practice to imitate the Arkansas offense.
“The game is so much faster at this level than it is in high school,” she said. “From the serve to the end of the rally, the ball just travels so much faster. So what we try to do is get the players to actually see the game three-dimensionally.”
However, the only Gator to crack the top 20 in the Southeastern Conference in digs is Taylor Unroe.
The sophomore libero ranks fourth in the league with 4.58 digs per set.
None of her teammates has more than 1.91.
Due in part to its NCAA-leading .328 hitting percentage, UF ranks last in the SEC and 249th out of 328 teams in the nation in digs.
Because Florida’s offense typically ends points quickly, opportunities for digs have been hard to come by this season.
The visiting Razorbacks rank third in the SEC in kills and put up a season-high 107 points on the Gators in their last outing on Sept. 14.
Wise said her team needs to have a standout defensive match in order to preserve its perfect conference record.
“The good news is that we’re familiar with them,” Wise said. “The bad news is as good as they are, we have to play them again. We have our work cut out for us.”
Sophomore Madison Monserez (11) attempts a pass during UF’s 3-0 win against FIU on Aug. 24, 2012, in the O’Connell Center.
