University of North Florida
JACKSONVILLE
UNF gets ready to rumble
9/8/2008 6:25:38 PM | Volleyball
Lady Ospreys will take on Dolphins Tuesday
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Fresh off an impressive 3-1 win over 2007 Summit League regular season champion South Dakota State, the University of North Florida women's volleyball team will open its home and conference schedule against cross-town rival Jacksonville at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
It will be the first of two meetings between the teams this season in addition to an all-important SunTrust River City Rumble point being at stake. The Dolphins won both meetings in volleyball last season, but UNF still retained the SunTrust Old Wooden Barrel when the all-sports score ended in a 10-10 tie.
UNF is a different team than JU saw last season with six newcomers and a renewed sense of confidence. The Lady Ospreys don't have any shame in claiming the Seminole Tri-Tournament last weekend a success with how well they competed. UNF fell 3-0 to ACC foe Florida State on Friday night but was on the verge of winning the second set and knotting the match.
The Lady Ospreys capped the tournament with what can be considered as their strongest win thus far. After dropping the first set on Saturday to South Dakota State, UNF stole control of the match and dictated the pace in the last three sets for a 3-1 victory over a team that won the 2007 Summit League regular season championship. Sophomores Madie Belvin and Kaley Read were named to the all-tournament team for their performances.
JU has lost two straight after opening the season with a 2-1 record. The Dolphins are coming off 3-0 losses to No. 8 Florida and the always-tough Florida A&M over the weekend in Gainesville, Fla. JU finished fourth in the A-Sun in 2007 and was picked to finish in the same place this season in the A-Sun Preseason Coaches Poll.
UNF Schedule
Tuesday, Sept. 9
7 p.m. - Jacksonville at UNF
Live Video vs. Jacksonville: Click here
Live Stats vs. Jacksonville: Click here
Admission: Free
Series: UNF leads Jacksonville 7-5
Last Week's Results:
Florida State 3, UNF 0
· Box Score
· Recap
UNF 3, South Dakota State 1
· Box Score
· Recap
Watch Out For: Junior Agata Dawidowicz has proved to be lethal at the serve - either with the jump or stationary. Her 18 aces leads the Atlantic Sun Conference by three, and she entered into the UNF record books at the FAU Invitational for aces in a match. After struggling against Florida State with five service errors, she elected to switch to the stationary serve against South Dakota State and ripped off five aces.
Notables: This will be the 13th all-time meeting between the teams ... JU has won the last two matches ... this is the fourth year of existence for the SunTrust River City Rumble ... UNF first won the SunTrust Old Wooden Barrel in 2006-07 and retained it in 2007-08 with a 10-10 tie ... senior Bary Rasmussen is averaging 2.57 kills per set against Jacksonville in five career matches ... the last four matches in the series have gone at least four sets ... since joining the Atlantic Sun Conference, the Lady Ospreys have finished in at least third place when defeating JU ... the home team in the all-time series is 9-3 ... Read has recorded double-figure kills in three-straight matches ... UNF has never lost two consecutive matches at UNF Arena to JU.
