It was a good weekend for the Florida Gators as the team registered a pair of Top 5 upsets en route to a 2-0 start in front of near record crowds.
The good news continued for Gator fans on Monday as the team vaulted up the AVCA and VolleyMob polls and Rachael Kramer and Carli Snyder garnered SEC Player and Defensive Player of the Week nods.
Kramer paced the Florida with 3.44 kills per set, while hitting at an eye-popping .549 clip. The sophomore middle blocks also added eight blocks to the team’s tally. The Phoenix native posted 11 kills and five blocks, while pacing the Gators with a .391 hitting effort in the upset of No. 1 Texas. Against Nebraska, Kramer dropped 20 kills, while hitting at a.659 clip. She was named VERT Challenge MVP for her efforts.
This is the first player of the week honor for Kramer, following an SEC Freshman of the Week accolade on Sept. 26, 2016.
For her part, Snyder registered 2.44 kills per set, a team-leading 5.22 digs per set and a team-best seven aces en route to VERT Challenge all-tournament team honors. The junior outside hitter notched a double double against Texas, adding a team-best 14 kills to a then career-best 20 digs and six aces. The Macomb, Michigan, native smashed the defensive mark the following night with 27 saves to go with eight kills, an ace and a block.
Snyder was previously SEC Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 12, 2015.
Arkansas’ Rachel Rippee and Georgia’s T’ara Ceasar got in the on the awards action with Setter and Freshman of the Week accolades respectively.
Rippee averaged a league-leading 11.80 assists per set, while guiding the Razorbacks to a .274 team hitting effort en route to Arkansas Classic all-tournament team honors. The sophomore also chipped in 2.10 digs per set and five aces as Arkansas went 3-0 for the first time since 2014 with wins over Cal State Bakersfield, Utah State and Louisiana-Monroe. The Springfield, Missouri, native started the weekend with a 39-assist, 12-dig double-double and three aces against Bakersfield, while tallying her 1,000th career helper. She added 33 assists and six digs against ULM and finished out the tournament with 46 assists and a team .422 hitting effort against the Aggies.
Ceasar racked up 38 kills in the team’s four sweeps at the Benson Hospitality Invitational. Her 4.22 kills per set average ranks second in the SEC, while her team-leading five aces (0.56 per set) ranks seventh among league players. The Panama City, Florida, native tallied seven kills, five digs, a block and an ace in her debut against Presbyterian. She tacked on eight more kills, five blocks and three aces, while hitting .429 against George Mason. The rookie capped the weekend with a pair of double-digit kill totals: 10 against UNC Asheville to go with seven digs, and a team-leading 13 and eight blocks in the finale against Long Island.
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