After a stretch of five matches in 11 days closed last weekend,, the Gators volleyball team returns from a week off and looks to keep its foot on the gas in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, over the weekend.
No. 20 Florida (10-5, 4-1 SEC) travels to face the LSU Tigers (6-8, 2-3 SEC) in a two-match series Saturday and Sunday at the Maravich Center. The Gators dominated Georgia and Ole Miss last week with three straight sweeps to move up two spots in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll.
Setter Marlie Monserez earned her third SEC Setter of the Week and second SEC Player of the Week awards on Tuesday. The senior averaged 12.67 assists per set over the three matches and became the seventh Gator to record 3,000 assists in a career during her 40-assist performance against Georgia Sept. 29.
Outside hitter Merritt Beason earned her first conference honor when she was named Freshman of the Week. The Gardendale, Alabama, native was error-free in the first Ole Miss match, registering nine kills and a career-high .692 hitting percentage.
On Thursday, outside hitter Thayer Hall was selected as one of 30 NCAA volleyball student-athletes named as Senior CLASS Award Candidates. An athlete is eligible for the award if they’re classified as an NCAA Division I senior and own notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. The winner will be announced in December during the 2021 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship.
“I think the sport of volleyball has been blessed by Thayer Hall,” head coach Mary Wise said Thursday. “Just as she’s bettered Florida volleyball, she’s bettered the sport.”
Florida possesses the upper hand against the Tigers historically with a 48-13 overall record. In their last meeting on Feb. 11, the Gators beat the Tigers 3-1 (25-17, 22-25, 25-20, 25-19).
LSU enters the series off of a sweep over Missouri 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-12) Wednesday.
The first serve for Saturday’s match is scheduled for 5 p.m. and Sunday’s match will begin at 1 p.m. Saturday’s match can be streamed on SEC Network +, while Sunday’s will be streamed on SEC Network.
Contact Kaitlyn Wadulack at kwadulack@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter at @kwadulack.
