As the Gators lined up for serving practice in the Lemerand Center, Simone Antwi imagined she was somewhere else.
“UCLA vs. Florida, NCAA national championship, fifth set, 14-13 us and Simone Antwi to serve” she said, causing grins to appear on her teammates’ faces.
The ball zipped over the net, dropping dead just inside the “opponent’s” corner. The team erupted with laughter and cheers as they mobbed Antwi with hugs and high fives.
Last year, that was as real as it got for Antwi.
But today, the redshirt freshman is coming off back-to-back performances with a hitting percentage of at least .600.
She notched two kills in three attacks during UF’s 3-1 win on Friday against South Carolina and added six kills in 10 attacks with four block assists in Sunday’s 3-0 win against Mississippi State.
“I’m still star struck,” she said.
After redshirting during the 2011 season, Antwi has grown into a more complete athlete, coach Mary Wise said.
Wise said she wouldn’t even allow Antwi to serve in practice last year, as it was not part of her initial training program.
But now the 6-foot-2 middle blocker is third on the team with 11 aces.
Her success rate on serves is nearly 90 percent, as she has made only nine errors in 87 attempts.
Wise added that Antwi’s quick learning and dedication to improve in every area of the game are exciting, because Antwi still has plenty of time to grow at Florida.
“The fun thing will be is to have Simone, knowing that she’s just a month into her career and we still have three full years left,” she said.
When the Fairfax Station, Va., South County High graduate learned she would sit out a year, she was not disappointed.
Instead, she wanted to work on her game so that she could contribute when she returned to the court the following season.
“I was excited because it was another opportunity to learn,” Antwi said.
“Being able to sit out and watch everything was truly good for me. I learned a lot from the middles and the past players and the coaches. I had a lot more time to work on everything.”
Antwi said she is still working on her blocking.
Although Antwi has only 17 blocks this season, Wise said Antwi has the perfect opportunity to improve by playing behind junior Chloe Mann and senior Betsy Smith, who both redshirted as freshmen.
“Right now she’s playing behind two pretty darn good middles,” Wise said.
“Where she can really help us out is her blocking. We think Simone has got a chance to be the best blocker to come through this program when it’s all said and done.”
Simone Antwi (16) receives a pass from Dana Backlund (2) during UF’s 3-0 win against Jacksonville on Sept. 7, 2012, in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
