When No. 17 Florida’s volleyball team was swept last weekend by Southeastern Conference opponents for the first time in coach Mary Wise‘s tenure, bright spots were not easy to come by.
Transition defense was poor, the offense was hindered heavily by poor touches and the Gators were largely eliminated from the race for an SEC title.
But it was Chloe Mann, a sophomore middle blocker from Gainesville, who managed to bring a bit of light to an overwhelmingly dark weekend.
“I just saw everything she’s brought every day in practice for the last three years,” junior middle blocker Betsy Smith said. “She’s one of the best competitors I’ve played with.”
Now Mann, who attended Eastside High School and played club volleyball for the Gainesville Juniors, looks to be in line for increased playing time as Florida (17-5, 10-3 SEC) opens a weekend homestand against Alabama (11-14, 4-10 SEC) today at 4 p.m. in the O’Connell Center.
“No question,” Wise said. “It was a matter of the timing. … She took full advantage of it.”
On Friday against No. 16 Tennessee, Mann came off the bench just as she has done 13 previous times this season.
In the four-set loss, she impressed coaches in very limited action with two kills and a block assist. Combined with the play of senior middle blocker Cassandra Anderson — who had her lowest blocking numbers in two weeks — Mann was called upon for her third start of the season Sunday against Kentucky.
“We thought because of her size and her physical play that she might be able to match up better with Kentucky’s middles, and she definitely did,” Wise said.
What ensued was a career performance.
Mann had 10 kills, 4.5 blocks and seven digs against the No. 19 Wildcats. She hit a team-high .455 on 22 swings.
“I definitely feel like the experience has caught up with me,” said Mann, who redshirted as a freshman. “It’s nice being able to play with that.”
Last season, Mann had just seven kills and two blocks on the year while playing in a four-person middle blocker rotation that included the since-departed Lauren Bledsoe. But with just three middle blockers in the rotation in 2011, chances have increased noticeably for Mann.
“It’s kind of been anyone’s game as to who will play,” Mann said. “We continue to just keep fighting in practice and see what happens.”
Mann smiled and declined to give too much of a comment when asked if she knew who would start against Alabama.
“It’s a ‘get there and see,’” she said.
Meanwhile, it appears it will continue to be a practice battle between the three middle blockers for two starting spots.
“(Mann’s) been very good in practice,” Wise said, “but Betsy and Cass have been, too.”
Sophomore middle blocker Chloe Mann had 10 kilss, 4.5 blocks and seven digs in a loss to No. 19 Kentucky on Sunday.
