Mary Wise has been the head coach of the Florida women's volleyball team since 1991.
There are 24 SEC titles in those 30 years, including 18 straight from 1991-2008 — the Division I record for most consecutive conference titles by a single program. There are also 29 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, eight Final Fours, 15 SEC Coach of the Year honors, and trips to the NCAA championship match in 2003 and 2017.
She has built a storied program at Florida and has coached a litany of amazing players during her career at UF.
krikya18.com tasked Wise to create her ultimate Florida volleyball dream player, picking one player for 11 different categories. Here are her picks for each category and what she had to say about each player:
The Quarterback
"A phenomenal setter in terms of delivery, reliability. Everyone had a good look, each night, each set, because of her skills."
Jen Sanchez (1996-99)
- Set UF single-season assist record with 1,745
- 1998: AVCA second-team All-American
- 3759 total assists
The Terminator
"She terminated. Just an elite arm. I think it was 35 kills at Hawaii. You're terminating balls in a big way if you can do that on the road. She was the first player I said in recruiting she can 'thump it', and to this day I'm asking our assistants, when we are looking for attackers, 'Can she thump it?' That was Jenny Manz."
Jenny Manz (1996-99)
- 2nd in kills (1,657), matches played (147) and attacks (3,768) at Florida
- 3rd in digs (1,202), 10th in blocks (296), 3rd in aces (152)
- 1998 AVCA first-team All-American
The Brick Wall
"What made Rhamat so special was, she was so high above the net, literally, she is blocking balls as the hitter is hitting balls. If you set the ball tight against her, she's going to hurt your feelings. She is the type of blocker that would stay in your head long after the play is over."
Rhamat Alhassan (2014-17)
- 2017-18 Honda Sport Award winner (first Gator to earn the award)
- 2017 SEC Player of the Year
- Second Gator in history (Kelly Murphy) to earn a spot on one of the three AVCA All-America teams four times
- Four-time AVCA All-American (2014 — Second Team; 2015, 2017 — First Team; 2016 -- Third Team)
- The second player in Division I history to tally at least 1,250 kills, 605 blocks, and a .420 clip
- School record holder in career total blocks (674) and block assists (584)
- Career 1.52 blocks per set average ranks second in UF history
The Energizer
"People might remember Shainah in the NCAA run of 2017 and how I would have to wait at timeouts when she was talking to the team before I could get in there. Why she is deserving of the hypeman award is because that is who she was when she was a redshirt and not even playing, that is who she was when she was deep at the end of the bench before her game had evolved."
Shainah Joseph (2013-17)
- 2017 AVCA All-America Second Team
- 2017 All-SEC