As I think about last night's game, I remember noticing the disparity between the attitudes of the teams while they were warming up. Purdue was composed and focused, and Florida was happy and laughing and looked happy just to be there. I suspect -- especially given how Coach Wise said (before the tournament started) that the team was very eager and "couldn't wait" for the tournament to start -- they had no clue what carrying that #1 target into the tourney would do for their competition. There is a tremendous difference between understanding that you will "get everyone's best game" and experiencing it. The FSU match, that's certain. Maybe, as you speculated, they just peaked too early. Perhaps, also, playing in a relatively soft conference didn't force them to improve their game very much during the season.
I'm very sad for Mary Wise. I also thought they had a great chance this year. Mary On Sat, Dec 11, 2010 at 7:03 AM, Helen Huntley <[email protected]> wrote: > Thanks for the first-hand report, Mary. > I was sad about this too. It seemed like this year there was a great chance > for Mary Wise to win her first national championship. > Maybe they never deserved their high ranking and maybe they just peaked too > early, got tired or whatever. > They didn't look so great against FSU either. > Helen > On Fri, Dec 10, 2010 at 9:40 PM, Mary Weigly <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Hubby and I attended the game, and it was one ugly display of volleyball. >> Purdue played great. They looked like a team, and our Gators did not. We >> couldn't block, serve, play defense; I've never seen a Mary Wise-coached >> team play this badly. They were completely out of sync and looked like they >> hadn't played together before. Girls out of position, making unforced >> errors, two and three players going after the same ball.... it was very >> weird. We were sitting with some of the Gainesville volleyball regulars, >> and they were flabbergasted as well. >> >> It's funny, but watching them play several times this season, I wondered >> if that #1 ranking was due to attrition -- as other teams all lost matches >> this season -- and not merit. Going through a season with only one loss, >> and having a 24-game streak is impressive, don't get me wrong. But, the >> Gator girls haven't looked dominant like past top-ranked teams have looked >> (Penn State and the west coasters, for example). >> >> I was very disappointed in the way the match went. However, it was well >> attended and a fun outing. Also, there were lots of peopleat the Gregory >> Gym tonight who were obviously fascinated by the presence of Doc Rivers. >> Many of the fans in attendance could be seen sneaking snapshots as he >> watched Callie and the Gators. >> >> Go Gators! >> >> Mary >> >> >> On Fri, Dec 10, 2010 at 8:21 PM, Woody Bass <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> :( i was following the score online.. some people were sayin they had >>> plenty of chances and fell short >>> >>> >>> On Dec 10, 2010, at 9:15 PM, Helen Huntley wrote: >>> >>> Florida volleyball swept in Sweet 16 matchup >>> >>> Staff report >>> >>> Published: Friday, December 10, 2010 at 8:08 p.m. >>> Last Modified: Friday, December 10, 2010 at 8:08 p.m. >>> >>> AUSTIN, Texas - The top-seeded Florida volleyball team saw the end of its >>> nation's-best 24-game win streak, as well as its season, Friday afternoon at >>> the Gregory Gymnasium on the University of Texas campus. >>> >>> The Gators never looked in sync as 16th-seeded Purdue swarmed every ball >>> the Gators tried to put down. UF trailed by as much as 11 and was swept by >>> the Boilermakers, 28-26, 25-25, 25-19. >>> >>> -- >>> Helen Huntley >>> (727) 823-3801 >>> www.helenhuntley.com >>> >>> -- >>> GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! >>> 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions >>> 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions >>> 2008 National Football Champions | >>> Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel >>> (1996), >>> Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us >>> >>> >>> -- >>> GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! >>> 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions >>> 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions >>> 2008 National Football Champions | >>> Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel >>> (1996), >>> Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us >>> >> >> -- >> GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! >> 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions >> 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions >> 2008 National Football Champions | >> Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel >> (1996), >> Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us >> > > > > -- > Helen Huntley > (727) 823-3801 > www.helenhuntley.com > > -- > GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! > 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions > 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions > 2008 National Football Champions | > Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), > Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us > -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us
