Our Gators are all alone at the moment in 3rd palace. 1st Kentucky 10-2, 2nd Missouri 9-2 3rd, Florida 9-3 4th, Texas 8-3, 5th Arkansas 6-5
Watched UK sweep LSU. The mildcats looked a lot like UNL not letting balls hit the flooring, blocking, and hammering kills.
After the Carolina loss on 10/13, the Gators were ranked #23. They have now won 7 in a row and leading in sets 21-3. Seems to me they deserve a better rating than the current #21.
There are plenty of matches left to prove it starting with at Mizzou. UF is just a 3rd place team in the SEC with an 18-5 (9-3) record. The voters don't give a hoot if UF has been suffering from injuries for over a year now. I like the athleticism of our outside hitters but think we will take it on the chin against good and taller blocking and hitting teams. At 5'11" and 6'0", UF is height challenged. UF might deserve better than #21, but we lost at home to both Kentucky and Texas plus played flat allowing ourselves to be upset by South Carolina. I'd be approaching the remainder of the season as every match is a must win. Given UF has won 6 in a row, that might be the approach the team is taking to keep the lights turned on in the O'Dome through the NCAA tourney first round matches. Looking ahead to next season makes me salivate for a fast forward, but we are what we are for 2024. Just imagine having Kira Hutson, Madi Gravlee, Gabby Essix, and Alexis Stucky to go along with Taylor Parks in the fold with Kennedy Martin, Jaela Auguste, Alec Rothe, Amaya Thomas, and Lauren Harden. I don't even know who UF is signing for the 2025 season.
In the latest KPI Rankings, which seemed to replace RPI and NET rankings in basketball last year as the most reliable computer-based ranking, The Gators are currently #17. The Only other SEC teams ahead of them are Texas at #9 and Kentucky at #11. The Big 10 has 5 teams ahead of us, the ACC has 4 ahead of us and the Big 12 has 3 ahead of us. Our Friday opponent, Missouri, is ranked #19, so that's a huge game. In the RPI we're #23, Missouri #17. It hurts that our SOS is only #41. We've only played 4 ranked teams - Georgia Tech, FSU, Texas & Kentucky, and lost 3 of those matches by scores of 0-3, 1-3, 0-3. The SEC just doesn't have enough ranked teams to boost up the SOS without playing more games against Top 20 teams pre-conference. Texas has the #7 SOS, Kentucky #6, Missouri #36. Just keep winning and it will all work out, though. I like the way this team is playing now and we could be dangerous in the post season.
Nothing so far on the Florid Gators Instagram page. I don't know who UF is expecting to sign. Nobody has talked recruiting much coming into signing day. Today is the first day of the signing period that expires on August 1, 2025. Gymnastics has signed 3 today and likely will sign a 4th. Outside of the major sports, all other sports start signing today.
On the first signing day in November, 2022 we signed three vb players, then later added a transfer and a freshman. In November 2023 we signed an amazing class of five and later added two transfers and a freshman. So far we have one on the first signing day. It will be interesting to see if the environment has changed towards getting more experienced transfers, or if signings are delayed due to NIL or other factors. However I note that Kentucky, Missouri and Texas have each signed 3 to 5 or more freshmen.
Florida’s Kennedy Martin Named Semifinalist for AVCA’s 2024 Division I Player of the Year Award - Florida Gators
I am looking forward to this match with Missouri. It is vital for our continued success and ranking. Get up to #16 ladies.
This team would be better off not seeded and go to a middle teens seeded bracket as opposed to getting a 15 or 16 seed then getting that 1/2 matchup in round 2. We have not played well at all against any quality ranked team and it always seems to take them a full set to get in a rhythm regardless of opponent.
