After five road games and spending back-to-back weekends in Texas and Hawaii, the Florida volleyball team can finally relax.
The Gators are home.
But fifth-ranked Florida (6-1) finds itself without a key starter — Carli Snyder.
The sophomore outside hitter turned her ankle in practice last Tuesday and is out indefinitely with an ankle sprain, head coach Mary Wise said.
Snyder started each of UF’s first four games and was averaging 2.5 kills per set — currently fourth best on the team — before she was sidelined.
But Wise said there is good news despite not having a timetable for her return.
"Because we were on the road, the trainer said it was the best opportunity to rehab because she wasn’t in class," Wise said.
"So she was listening to class and they were working on her ankle at the same time. I guess if you’re gonna have an injury, what I learned is do it on the road."
While Snyder’s ankle heals, the rest of the Gators are still recovering from the time difference Hawaii presented.
Wise said they’re all handling it well, though.
"They’re young and adaptable and they recover fast," she said. "You might not have thought that on the bus from Orlando last night when it was as quiet as I’ve ever experienced, [but] at five in the morning in L.A. they seemed like young teenagers totally unphased."
Florida has good reason to be excited.
It returns to the O’Connell Center Thursday for its home opener against St. John’s.
The Gators are coming off a 4-1 trip that included wins against then third-ranked Texas and No. 11 Oregon.
Though the trip included a loss to then No. 16 Hawaii — UF’s lone defeat of the season — the match went down to the wire in a five-set thriller.
"Credit Hawaii how well they played especially in the fourth and fifth set," Wise said.
"For us to be without Carli and be right there, I don’t think we could’ve asked anything more from our team."
With Snyder not on the court, Florida had multiple players step up in her absence.
Wise named three that stood out to her — senior outside hitter Ziva Recek, sophomore middle blocker Rhamat Alhassan, who leads the country in blocks per set, and senior defensive specialist Nikki O’Rourke, who tallied a career-high 25 digs against Hawaii.
One play that exemplified O’Rourke’s play came in the third set against Hawaii.
She sprinted back beyond the service line, dove and bumped the ball back to her teammates.
"She has the foot speed of the likes we’ve never had," Wise said. "Should SportsCenter follow volleyball, she would make all sorts of top 10 plays of the week."
Now the Gators turn their attention to walking under the lights of the O’Connell Center once again, after they thought they’d be playing away from the dome due to initial renovation plans.
Wise said her seniors were especially excited.
"Their mindset was that they wouldn’t be playing in the O’Dome this year," Wise said. "There can’t be five people more thrilled with the decision to wait a year," she said.
Wise, who said Florida’s been receiving every team’s best shot on the road, said her team is just excited to be back in front of the familiar faces of Gator fans.
"I think it’ll really hit us when we go into the O’Connell Center on Thursday."
“Their mindset was that they wouldn’t be playing in the O’Dome this year,” Wise said. “There can’t be five people more thrilled with the decision to wait a year,” she said.
Wise, who said Florida’s been receiving every team’s best shot on the road, said her team is just excited to be back in front of the familiar faces of Gator fans.
“I think it’ll really hit us when we go into the O’Connell Center on Thursday.”
Follow Patrick Pinak on Twitter @Pinakk12
Defensive Specialist Nikki O'Rourke serves during Florida's 3-1 win against Miami in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Dec. 6 in the O'Connell Center.
