The crowd at the O’Connell Center jeered and yelled, but Madison Monserez, mouth agape, couldn’t eke out a word.
Senior outside hitter Sarah Bullock of Auburn spiked a ball at Monserez during Sunday’s match against No. 11 Florida after the official blew the whistle, ending the rally.
Bullock told the official, who called her over immediately after the incident, that she didn’t hear the whistle blow.
Senior Betsy Smith said the controversial spike was yet another indication that matches against Southeastern Conference rivals, like Auburn, are more intense than those out of conference.
She added that the Gators will have to put their emotions aside and focus on volleyball.
“There are certain players that are very emotional players,” Smith said. “We knew that [Bullock] was going to be an emotional player. We don’t take it as anything. We expected it. We try to just (say), ‘All right, on to the next point.’”
Florida (15-2, 9-0 SEC) expects to see more of the same intensity when it faces Alabama (14-7, 3-6 SEC) in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Friday night at 8. UF then gets its first taste of SEC newcomer Texas A&M on Sunday at 2 p.m. in College Station, Texas.
Coach Mary Wise said because Florida plays almost every SEC rival twice each season, the Gators get to know their opponents.
Wise said Florida’s emotion comes from playing opponents it faces on a regular basis, and she loves that conference play can bring out that type of passion.
In fact, she said she admires the way Bullock plays fiery and hard-nosed volleyball.
“The biggest difference is the familiarity,” Wise said. “There’s only a few teams we don’t play twice so they are so familiar with each other. ... (Bullock) is one of our staff’s favorite players because of how hard she plays. We’ve seen this for four years. She is one of my favorites. I love how she plays. I’m going to send her a graduation card.”
Sophomore Holly Pole said the Gators never know what to expect when they go on the road.
But she knows that Florida is excited for another grind-it-out SEC matchup.
“In the O’Dome you have all your fans,” Pole said.
“Everyone is cheering for you. On the road, sometimes teams will have tons of fans, sometimes there will be no one in the gym. It’s just important that we get our energy from ourselves and bring that energy to every game.”
The No. 11 Florida Gators travel to Tuscaloosa, Ala., and College Station, Texas, to take on two conference opponents. Florida has won its first nine conference games heading into matchups with Alabama and Texas A&M.
