The Florida volleyball team has high expectations for themselves this year, and they aren’t afraid to talk about them — or the possibility of a national championship.
“That was one of our main talks and goals for the season,” 2014 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year Alex Holston said. “SEC championship, a Final Four and of course we all want that national championship. We actually talk about it a lot, not just in the back of our heads but in the locker room, during practice and during our meetings.”
Part of the reason the Gators have their sights set on a national title is because they’ve consistently proved they own the SEC, winning 21 conference championships in the past 24 seasons, all under head coach Mary Wise.
Wise and her team are embracing the idea of holding the championship trophy come December.
“There are a lot of teams that started training camp that it would not be a part of their dialogue,” Wise said. “This team understands that we’re one of a whole group of teams in the country that has a chance.”
Now in her 25th season at UF and still in search of Florida’s first national championship, Wise is testing her players in more ways than one.
“We had this big list of words that we actually had a quiz for it, [and] we all had to get 100 percent,” Holston said. “We cut that list into six words of three performance and three moral skills. I think we’re calling it our team glossary.”
The list includes words and phrases like social awareness, focused, appreciation, character, resilience and confidence, all of which are used to help keep the team focused and become better teammates, Holston said.
Wise said the lessons are no different than what the program has been preaching in the past, but this year she’s just packaging them differently.
“What we’re doing is using volleyball to grow character,” Wise said. “So if the word in our glossary is resilient and our definition is to bounce back, there will be times in volleyball, and it happens often, where you get an opportunity to grow your resiliency. You just missed a serve, you’ve been aced, you got blocked, how do you bounce back from that to the very next play?”
Senior middle blocker Simone Antwi said that the team expectations don’t add pressure. They motivate her and her teammates to work harder.
“You can’t just come in and bring your “C” game, it’s like “A” game every day,” Antwi said. “We all push each other in the gym and make each other better, so it’s really a great environment to be a part of.”
It’s an environment that Wise has fostered throughout her years as a Gator — one in which she expects the best from her players not just in the gym but in the classroom, at home and in public, Antwi said.
With Florida considered one of the elite teams in the nation, as evidenced by their No. 4 ranking in the AVCA Division I Coaches Preseason Poll, Antwi knows this team has what it takes to be named national champions for the first time in program history.
“We wanna be that team to win the national championship for Mary,” Antwi said. “It’d be nice to be that first team and do it for Mary.”
With a slew of players returning from last year, including Holston — a First Team All-American last year — and Second Team All-American Rhamat Alhassan, the Gators have a legitimate shot to take home a national title this season.
Florida opens its season Saturday on the road against James Madison at 7 p.m. and plays its first home game Sept. 17 against St. John’s.
Follow Patrick Pinak on Twitter @Pinakk12
Right-side hitter Alex Holston swings for a kill during Florida's 3-1 win against Miami in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Dec. 6 in the O'Connell Center.
