Florida Gators women's volleyball

The Florida Gators women's volleyball team represents the University of Florida in the sport of volleyball. The Gators compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Gators play their home matches in the O'Connell Center on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus, and are currently led by head coach Ryan Theis.

History

The University of Florida's athletic department, the University Athletic Association, authorized the first intercollegiate varsity women's volleyball team to begin play in the fall of 1984. Marilyn McReavy was the Gators' first head coach, and she led the Gators volleyball team for seven seasons from 1984 to 1990. McReavy's Gators compiled an overall win–loss record of 156–100 (.609), and a Southeastern Conference (SEC) record of 26–20 (.565). Her best SEC finish was second place in 1988, and her 1987 team was the only one that qualified for the NCAA tournament. McReavy resigned after a 15–16 performance in 1990.

Coach Mary Wise was hired to replace Marilyn McReavy in 1991. In their first year under Wise, the Gators won the SEC regular season championship, sharing it with the LSU Tigers volleyball team.

In 1992, Florida made its first ever NCAA Final Four appearance, where they lost in the semifinals to eventual national runner-up UCLA 15–12, 15–12, 15–10.National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2007); NCAA Championship Women's Volleyball Program, p. 48

In 1993, Wise became the first Division I female head coach to guide her team to more than one final four. In 1996, the Gators made the trip to their third final four in five years, losing to Hawaii in the semifinals. Wise was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division I National Coach of the Year.

In 1997, the Gators appeared in the final four once again, being swept by Penn State in the semifinals. The roster consisted of a young squad, with only three seniors on the team.

The Gators made their third consecutive final four in 1998, where they again lost in the semifinals, to eventual national champion and undefeated Long Beach State, 15–2, 15–8, 15–10.National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2007); NCAA Championship Women's Volleyball Program, p. 50

In 2002, Florida made their first final four appearance since 1998, defeating Temple in the Sweet 16 and Penn State in the Elite Eight, before falling to eventual national champion Southern California in the semifinals.

After being 0-for-6 in previous NCAA Final Four semifinals, Florida broke through in 2003, by defeating Hawaii in the semis, 30–28, 30–28, 23–30, 30–28. Appearing in their first NCAA title match in school history, the Gators lost to undefeated Southern California in four sets, 25–30, 30–27, 30–19, 30–26. Wise became the first Division I female head coach to coach in a championship match. In addition, Florida set a then-NCAA record of 105 straight games won during the 2003 season.

The Florida Gators opened the 2017 season beating #1 Texas and #5 Nebraska in the opening weekend. They would eventually become the #1 ranked team...their first since 2010. The Gators finished the season 30–2 and reached their second final...falling to Nebraska 3–1. Rhamat Alhassan (1st Team), Carli Snyder (2nd Team), Shainah Joseph (2nd Team), and Rachael Kramer (3rd Team) would give Florida their highest total class of All-Americans in a single year in school history. Additionally, Mary Wise garnered the 2017 AVCA Coach of the Year for her third time....the second highest total in the award's history.http://www.floridagators.com/volleyball schedule

In 2023, the program's attendance record was set at 10,323 in attendance at the O'Connell Center when the 3rd ranked Gators played #1 Wisconsin. This also set the record for the highest attended volleyball match hosted by an SEC school and the highest on-campus volleyball match in the state of Florida.

On February 17, 2025, former assistant coach Ryan Theis was hired to replace Mary Wise as head coach after 6 seasons at Ohio and 11 seasons at Marquette.

Year-by-year results

YearHead CoachOverall recordConference recordConference standingPostseason 1984 Marilyn McReavy 16–16 1–5 5th – 1985 Marilyn McReavy 33–13 4–2 3rd – 1986 Marilyn McReavy 15–23 4–2 3rd – 1987 Marilyn McReavy 37–6 5–2 3rd NCAA Regional semifinal 1988 Marilyn McReavy 23–14 5–2 2nd – 1989 Marilyn McReavy 17–12 3–5 6th – 1990 Marilyn McReavy 15–16 4–4 3rd – 1991 Mary Wise 35–5 13–1 1st NCAA Regional Final 1992 Mary Wise 34–2 14–0 1st NCAA Final Four 1993 Mary Wise 33–4 14–0 1st NCAA Final Four 1994 Mary Wise 28–6 13–1 1st NCAA Regional semifinal 1995 Mary Wise 35–2 14–0 1st NCAA Regional Final 1996 Mary Wise 37–2 14–0 1st NCAA Final Four 1997 Mary Wise 34–4 14–0 1st NCAA Final Four 1998 Mary Wise 35–3 14–0 1st NCAA Final Four 1999 Mary Wise 33–3 14–0 1st NCAA Regional Final 2000 Mary Wise 29–5 14–0 1st NCAA Regional semifinal 2001 Mary Wise 28–2 14–0 1st NCAA Regional Final 2002 Mary Wise 34–3 16–0 1st NCAA Final Four 2003 Mary Wise 36–2 16–0 1st NCAA Runners-Up 2004 Mary Wise 28–5 15–1 1st NCAA Second Round 2005 Mary Wise 33–3 15–1 1st NCAA Regional Final 2006 Mary Wise 30–3 19–1 1st NCAA Regional Final 2007 Mary Wise 29–3 19–1 1st NCAA Regional semifinal 2008 Mary Wise 27–4 18–2 1st NCAA Regional semifinal 2009 Mary Wise 26-7 16–4 3rd NCAA Regional semifinal 2010 Mary Wise 29–2 20–0 1st NCAA Regional semifinal 2011 Mary Wise 27–6 17–3 2nd NCAA Regional Final 2012 Mary Wise 27–5 19–1 1st NCAA Regional semifinal 2013 Mary Wise 28–4 16–2 2nd NCAA Second Round 2014 Mary Wise 28–4 18–0 1st NCAA Regional Final 2015 Mary Wise 25–7 13–5 4th NCAA Regional Final 2016 Mary Wise 27–4 16–2 1st NCAA Second Round 2017 Mary Wise 30–2 17–1 1st NCAA Runners-Up 2018 Mary Wise 26–7 15–3 3rd NCAA Regional semifinal 2019 Mary Wise 27–5 16–2 1st NCAA Regional semifinal 2020 Mary Wise 21–4 19–3 2nd NCAA Regional Final 2021 Mary Wise 22–9 14–4 3rd NCAA Regional Semifinal 2022 Mary Wise 25–6 15–3 1st NCAA Regional Semifinal 2023 Mary Wise 19–10 10–8 5th NCAA Second Round 2024 Mary Wise 23–8 11–5 3rd NCAA Regional Semifinal 2025 Ryan Theis 16–12 9–6 5th NCAA 2nd Round Total 1160–263 557–82

Southeastern Conference

Southeastern Conference Players of the Year

Florida has 12 players selected SEC player of the year for a total of 18 awards.SEC Record Book

Gudula Staub, 1992 Aycan Gokberk, 1993, 1995 Jenny Wood, 1996 Nina Foster, 1997 Jenny Manz, 1998, 1999 Nicole McCray, 2000 Aury Cruz, 2001, 2002, 2003 Jane Collymore, 2004, 2005 Angie McGinnis, 2006, 2007 Kelly Murphy, 2010 Chloe Mann, 2012 Alex Holston, 2014 Rhamat Alhassan, 2017

Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year Florida has 6 recipients of the Freshman of the Year award.SEC Record Book

Aury Cruz, 2000 Angie McGinnis, 2004 Kelly Murphy, 2008 Ziva Recek, 2012 Rhamat Alhassan, 2014 Alexis Stucky, 2022 Jaela Auguste, 2024

Southeastern Conference Libero of the Year Florida has 1 recipient of the Libero of the Year award. The award for Libero of the Year began in 2009.SEC Record Book

Taylor Unroe, 2013

Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year Florida has 1 recipient of the Coach of the Year award for a total of 11 awards.SEC Record Book

Mary Wise, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2017

Southeastern Conference Scholar Athlete of the Year Florida has 3 recipients of the Scholar Athlete of the Year award. The award for Scholar Athlete of the Year began in 2003SEC Record Book

Kelsey Bowers, 2008 Kristy Jaeckel, 2011 Holly Pole, 2014

Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Year Florida has 1 recipient of the Defensive Player of the Year award. The award for Defensive Player of the Year began in 2003 and ended in 2008SEC Record Book

Elyse Cusack, 2006

American Volleyball Coaches Association

All-Americans

Florida has 32 AVCA All-America selections, tenth all-time in NCAA Division I, and 132017 AVCA Meeting on December 13, 2017 First Team selections, tied for tenth all-time.AVCA All-American history

Heidi Anderson, 1992 Rhamat Alhassan, 2015, 20172017 AVCA Meeting December 13, 2017 Lauren Bledsoe, 2010 T'ara Ceasar, 2020 Jane Collymore, 2004, 2005 Aury Cruz, 2001, 2002, 2003 Erin Fleming, 2010 Lauren Forte, 2020 Nina Foster, 1997 Aycan Gokberk, 1993, 1995 Marcie Hampton, 2007 Benavia Jenkins, 2001, 2002, 2003 Shainah Joseph, 20172017 AVCA meeting on December 13, 2017 Jenny Manz, 1998, 1999 Amber McCray, 2006 Nicole McCray, 2002 Angie McGinnis, 2005, 2006, 2007 Ashley Mullis, 1995 Kelly Murphy, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 Callie Rivers, 2010 Aurymar Rodriguez, 1996 Jennifer Sanchez, 1998 Carli Snyder, 20172017 AVCA meeting December 13, 2017 Gudula Staub, 1991, 1992 Sherri Williams, 2003 Jenny Wood, 1996

National awards

Major awards

Mary Wise, National Coach of the Year: 1992, 1996, 20172017 AVCA meeting on December 13, 2017 Kelly Murphy, National Freshman of the Year: 2008 Ziva Recek, National Freshman of the Year: 2012

Player of the Week

Nine players have earned twelve AVCA Division I National Player of the Week award:

Aycan Gokberk (Sept. 11, 1995 and Oct. 30, 1995) Nina Foster (Sept. 1, 1997) Jenny Manz (Sept. 7, 1998) Heather Wright (Nov. 23, 1998) Nicole McCray (Sept. 4, 2000) Elyse Cusack (Nov. 6, 2006)"Elyse Cusack: National Player of the Week " AVCA. Kelly Murphy (Sept. 30, 2008; Aug. 21, 2010; and Sept. 20 2011)"Kelly Murphy: National Player of the Week " AVCA."Kelly Murphy: National Player of the Week " AVCA. Kristy Jaeckel (Oct. 4, 2011)"Kristy Jaeckel: National Player of the Week " AVCA. Rhamat Alhassan (Sept. 16, 2014)"Rhamat Alhassan: National Player of the Week " AVCA. Rachael Kramer (Aug. 29th, 2017)

See also

Florida Gators History of the University of Florida List of University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame members List of University of Florida Olympians University Athletic Association List of NCAA Division I women's volleyball programs

References