Coming off a weekend stained with loss and disappointment, the Gators are looking to one another for motivation.
Florida (3-2) faces a trio of unranked squads this weekend, starting with winless Jacksonville (0-6) Friday at 7:30 p.m. as part of the annual Active Ankle Challenge. In practice leading up to the tournament and following losses to No. 4 Texas and No. 8 Stanford, Chloe Mann, Ziva Recek and the rest of the Gators are pushing each other.
Mann and Recek have been battling to be UF’s top attacker, and they said their neck-and-neck competition has fueled their performance.
“She makes me want to be crafty,” Mann said of her freshman Slovenian teammate. “Her volleyball IQ, I feel like, is off the charts. She knows how to place the ball really well and it pushes me harder either when I’m hitting next to her or playing next to her to help increase my IQ and find shots on the court like she does.”
Recek, the go-to outside hitter for Florida, was named Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week on Tuesday because of her team-leading 37 kills over the weekend. Although the 6-foot freshman is already the holder of a new UF record (22 kills by a freshman in a three-set match), Recek said she feeds off of UF’s current points leader, Mann, and the rest of the team.
“Chloe is a great player and she always helps me when we’re standing together under the net,” Recek said. “She always reminds me of some important things.”
Mann has become the focus on Florida’s front line ever since her breakout performance on Nov. 11 of last season, when she had 18 kills and zero errors in 20 attacks. The junior middle blocker and Gainesville native hasn’t missed a step since, topping the squad in 10 offensive and defensive categories.
And although Mann said there is more pressure on her now, she added that the friendly rivalry with Recek, who ranks just behind Mann in five of those 10 statistics, has kept her grounded and focused on improving.
Coach Mary Wise was just happy to have someone step up to Mann’s level so quickly.
“Chloe’s numbers are not a surprise,” Wise said. “With Ziva, there were a lot of unknowns. With a freshman, you’re just hoping that they can make the adjustment to contribute in any small way. Because they play two different positions . . . they complement one another.”
The duo’s one-two punch on the Gators’ front line is critical for Florida’s success in the Active Ankle Challenge. Mann and Recek kept the Gators’ alive against two top-10 teams last weekend, as they combined for 61 percent of the team’s kills, 53 percent of the team’s attacks and 57 percent of the team’s points.
“We learned more about ourselves from the second weekend,” Wise said. “We’ve had two really good practices and I like to think the team that comes out [tonight] will be even better than last weekend.”
Chloe Mann help the No. 12 Florida Gators defeat the South Carolina Gamecocks on Friday night in Columbia, S.C. She set career highs with 20 kills and 22 points.
