The No. 3 Gators (8-0) travel to Fayetteville, Arkansas, to take on the Razorbacks (11-2) in their SEC opener on Sunday at 2 p.m. EST.
Arkansas kicked off conference play with a sweep of Tennessee on Wednesday, and the Razorbacks’ only losses have come at the hands of No. 5 Wisconsin and No. 21 Southern California.
“[Arkansas] is a tough place to play with maybe the hottest hitter (redshirt senior Pilar Victoria) in volleyball right now,” coach Mary Wise said. “She has a fast arm and it will be a great challenge for our players, but I think they’ll embrace the challenge.”
Victoria, who leads the country in both kills per set and total points, will be a tough test for a Gators’ defense that ranks top-10 nationally in blocks per set.
Anchoring that defense is middle blocker Rhamat Alhassan, who leads Florida with 1.96 blocks per set, good for second in the country. The 6-foot-4 senior is also among Florida’s top-three in kills, hitting percentage and service aces in 2017.
Next to Alhassan stands 6-foot-8 Rachael Kramer, whose .479 hitting percentage leads the team and is fifth in the NCAA. The sophomore middle blocker’s 86 kills are second on the team, and her efficient play helped garner national Player of the Week honors earlier in the season.
Leading the Gators in kills is senior Carli Snyder. The outside hitter also paces the Gators in service aces and is second on the team with 106 digs.
Florida also leans on seniors Caroline Knop (team-high 137 digs) and Shainah Joseph (56 kills), as well as underclassmen Cheyenne Huskey and Paige Hammons.
Huskey, a sophomore, has taken advantage of increased playing time this season, racking up 34 blocks and 104 assists. Both figures rank second for the Gators.
Hammons was a highly-touted recruit prior to enrolling at Florida this fall. Wise has lauded the freshman’s passing ability, and the 2016 FloVolleyball High School National Player of the Year is already making an impact with 28 kills and 66 digs so far.
Arkansas will be looking to avoid the results of the last match between the two SEC rivals in 2016, where Florida pulled away 3-0 (34-32, 26-24, 25-15) in Fayetteville.
The Razorbacks were without the services of its star outside hitter, Victoria, during that game, however.
Victoria leads the Razorbacks with 14 service aces, is second in digs with 131, and is third on the team with 25 blocks, to go along with her hitting prowess.
Freshman Hailey Dirrigl is second behind Victoria with 107 kills, and also has 23 blocks.
Sophomore setter Rachel Rippee, who ranks in the top-15 nationally with 571 assists, has also chipped in defensively with 97 digs.
Sunday’s match will be the first road trip by the Gators since traveling to Puerto Rico for the SEC-ACC Challenge on Sept. 2 and 3.
Florida will have a chance to extend its 39-3 all-time series lead over Arkansas twice in 2017—on Sunday and again on Nov. 10.
“I’m pretty excited to start SEC (play),” Joseph said. “It’ll be really good to start working on teams that we’ll play more often. I think the SEC is getting more and more competitive so that’s something to look forward to.
You can follow Andrew Huang on Twitter @AndrewJHuang, and contact him at ahuang@alligator.org.
Senior middle blocker Rhamat Alhassan swings for a kill during Florida's 3-0 win against Georgia Southern on Aug. 29, 2017, in the O'Connell Center.
