It was a late-August afternoon in the Gale Lemerand practice gym, and starting setter Mackenzie Dagostino was explaining why Florida’s practices are never lackadaisical.
"Your position is never set in stone," the junior said. "Yes, you do have a starter, but you always have an opportunity to fight for a position."
It’s safe to assume that Dagostino’s starting roster spot is cemented, as she recently racked up her 695th assist in Florida’s win over Arkansas on Sunday.
But now more than ever, Dagostino’s words can be applied to almost all of her teammates.
Two in particular are juniors Gabby Mallette and Ziva Recek.
After hardly appearing in Florida’s pre-conference schedule and being benched against UF’s four top-15 ranked opponents, Mallette has recently stepped in as one of Florida’s reliable outside hitters.
Recek has also seen her contributions pick up significantly during the past week.
After starting 31 of UF’s 32 matches last season, the junior received only scattered playing time to begin this year.
Since then, Recek has played more and finished with a season-high 12 kills on Wednesday in a win against South Carolina.
Coach Mary Wise attributes some of the lineup changes to matchup preferences and others to player performance.
"The luxury of having the depth is that we can go with outside hitters based on the matchup. That was the decision yesterday," Wise said of UF’s win against Arkansas on Sunday.
"And also we (can play) the hitter who has the hot hand."
As hitters Mallette and Recek’s playing time have increased, opening day starter Noami Santos-Lamb’s time has decreased.
Despite playing six fewer sets this season, Mallette has more kills, more points, a higher hitting percentage and nine fewer errors than Santos-Lamb.
"What we tell all our players, your job is to keep working hard everyday in practice so that when your name is called, you can contribute in what you do best," Wise said.
Freshman outside hitter Carli Snyder has also seen her playing time dip lately in favor of the more experienced Recek.
But in 12 more sets this season, Snyder has played better than Recek. The freshman has roughly double the junior’s kills and has a higher hitting percentage but has also committed 18 more errors.
"Both (Ziva and Gabby) have shown of recent that they’re in a pretty good offensive zone right now, but the decision really had to do a lot with defense as much as offense," Wise said.
And since circumstances will continue to change, Florida’s lineup will too.
Wise has experimented with different players in every match this season. In addition to Mallette and Recek, middle blocker Shainah Joseph and setter Abby Detering have played in certain spots to either shift a set’s momentum, take advantage of an opponent’s mismatch or simply to gain experience.
As the midway point of the season draws closer, Florida’s bench has shown consistency despite fluctuations in its depth chart.
"I’m really proud of our team and the resiliency they have shown," Wise said. "I think yesterday was a perfect example of both Ziva and Gabby doing that."
Follow Ian Cohen on Twitter @icohenb
Gabby Mallette swings for a kill attempt during Florida's 3-0 win against Arkansas on Sunday.
