NORMAL - College volleyball teams hoping to upset No. 7-nationally ranked Florida shouldn't wait until the Gators have broken free of off-season rust.

Illinois State, for one, is counting on a little rust to help slow down Florida in the season-opening match for both teams at 7 p.m. today Redbird Arena.

"If you are going to get somebody and you are going to knock them off, get them in the beginning of the year," said eighth-year ISU coach Sharon Dingman. "They are going to have kinks they are trying to work out."

ISU worked out some of its kinks during a 13-day trip in May to Europe, where it went 1-6.

"That's more of the type of volleyball we'll see when we play Florida: big, physical and serve the ball really hard," Dingman said. "I can't think of a better way to start the season than playing the Gators here in Redbird."

Dingman hopes there will be more than 5,000 fans on hand to give her team a lift (the arena record is 5,641). She wants those fans to know they could see a shocker on what is being dubbed as "Spread the Red" night.

"We aren't going to schedule somebody we don't think we have an opportunity to beat," she said.

However, Dingman admits her team's margin for error is slim.

"A lot of things have to go our way," she said.

The Gators have experience galore with the return of seven starters among 10 letterwinners from last year's 30-3 squad, which advanced to the NCAA regional semifinals.

Florida's veterans include three All-Americans and seven all-SEC honorees. The Gators were unanimously picked to win their 17th straight Southeastern Conference title while ISU was picked to finish fifth in the Missouri Valley.

The Redbirds played their seventh match of the 2006 season at then No. 6-ranked Florida and lost, 30-24, 30-18, 30-20, to fall behind in the all-time series, 5-0.

"We're going to throw everything at them we have," Dingman said. "I think our players have a tremendous amount of confidence going into the Florida match because we know we played them very well last year.

"We played them point for point. Once it got to 20, Florida took it to a different level and we were about at the level we could be at that point. Our players know we have another level this year we can go to, mostly because we are experienced."

Florida's experienced squad is quarterbacked by first-team All-American setter Angie McGinnis, a 5-foot-11 senior who averaged 13.40 assists per game last year.

"She is certainly the best setter our players will ever play," said Dingman, who was a teammate of Florida coach Mary Wise at Purdue and later a fellow assistant coach with her at Kentucky.

Florida also has All-American Amber McCray, a 6-0 senior, who averaged 3.71 kills on .370 hitting while 6-3 senior All-American Kisya Killingsworth averaged 3.49 kills.

Mallory Leggett, a 6-0 ISU freshman from Maroa, has edged out fellow freshman Jagoda Pstras for a starting outside hitter position.