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Dec. 9, 2010

Head coach Mary Wise
Opening statement: I don't think you could find a team in the field that is more thrilled to be here than the Gators after our "brush with tournament death" last Saturday.  So here we are in the round of 16 facing a very talented Purdue team that has been through the rigors of the Big 10.  All you have to do is look at how many Big 10 teams are still standing to know how talented that league has been all season.  We know that we have a huge challenge tomorrow night because of their strengths of being a big physical team in the front row and an elite ball handling team in the back row.   For us to be successful tomorrow night we are going to have to play our best match of the year. 

On comparing the strength of the SEC to the Big 10 and Big 12: I think you can look at the top of the league and say that they are very close in terms of the physicality of the teams like Minnesota and Penn State from the Big 10 and Nebraska and Texas out of the Big 12.  But what you are talking about is parity.  That's what we have seen in women's volleyball from the opening weekend of the season to the end of the regular season. 

On preparing for the tournament: We will not only be working on us, but also be preparing for Purdue.  It will be a typical practice prior to a match.  We will be fine-tuning some things in our players to get used to the venue.  We will also be working on some things that we hope will help us tomorrow night.

Junior setter/opposite hitter Kelly Murphy
On Florida's 24 match winning streak: I think we have learned to just stay consistent.  There were a couple time during SEC play where we kind of let up a little bit but we knew we had to keep working hard to get to where we are now.  

On Texas: I know Texas has gone through a lot this year dealing with injuries and having to put together some different things.  I think that right now, they are playing great volleyball and one of our goals was to be playing our best volleyball in December.  I think we are well on our way of doing that.