Friday, October 5
Jacksonville, Fla.
7 pm
University of North Florida
vs
Mercer
Photo by: Todd Drexler
Volleyball Hosts Mercer, Kennesaw State This Weekend
10/4/2012 3:01:00 PM | Volleyball
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – University of North Florida volleyball is back in action at UNF Arena this weekend when the Ospreys host Mercer (Friday) and Kennesaw State (Saturday) in a pair of Atlantic Sun Conference matches.
“We are looking forward to playing at home this weekend against two tough conference opponents,” said head coach Steve Loeswick. “Both Mercer and Kennesaw State are two talented teams that will test different aspects of our game. It will be another challenging weekend, but we're ready for it.”
On Friday, the conference's top two defensive teams will square off. Mercer is the conference leader in digs, averaging 18.60 digs per set for the season. UNF is in second with 17.30 digs per set. Individually, Mercer's Emily Rochefort has a conference-best 5.56 digs per set, while Nicole Baran is right behind with a 5.50 average.
UNF enters the weekend with wins in its last two matches. The Ospreys are currently 4-0 on its home court in 2012 with three of those wins being 3-0 sweeps. Most recently, UNF swept Stetson on Tuesday night. Baran made 11 digs on the night and became the Ospreys' all-time career leader for digs. She broke Tara Taylor's mark of 1,616 that had stood since 2006 and now has 1,623 career digs.
A four-match road swing begins for Mercer on Friday, which will also be the Bears' first conference road match of the season. Mercer's hosted all five of its A-Sun matches thus far. After starting out with two conference wins, the Bears have dropped their last three matches, including a 3-1 decision to Lipscomb in their most recent match.
UNF and Mercer do share some common ground when it came to both teams' early-season tournament schedule. Both teams competed at the Winthrop Invitational. UNF went a perfect 3-0 on the weekend, while Mercer had a 2-1 record. Both teams had four-set wins over Western Carolina and North Carolina A&T. The only difference in the weekend was that UNF swept Winthrop 3-0, while Mercer fell 3-0 to the Eagles.
UNF holds a 9-6 advantage in the series with Mercer. Last year, the series was split with each team winning on its home court.
Kennesaw State started a four-match road swing with a 3-0 win at Alabama State on Tuesday night. Both Jenna Wilt (11 kills) and Baylee Strachan (10) powered the Owl offense with double-digit kills against Alabama State. The Owls, who play at Jacksonville on Friday night, have had all of their matches except for one decided in either three or four sets this season. Kennesaw State's only five-set match was a 3-2 victory at Mississippi State during its season-opening weekend.
Kennesaw State leads the all-time series 5-3 and has won the last four meetings with the Ospreys.
Friday's match is scheduled to start at 7 p.m., while Saturday's match is at 3 p.m.
**Tickets for UNF volleyball matches are $5 for Adults; $3 for Youth 17-under, Senior Citizens 55+, Active Military and UNF Faculty/Staff. UNF students with a valid Osprey1 card and children under 2 are free. For more information about tickets, click here.
Live Video
Tickets
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – University of North Florida volleyball is back in action at UNF Arena this weekend when the Ospreys host Mercer (Friday) and Kennesaw State (Saturday) in a pair of Atlantic Sun Conference matches.
“We are looking forward to playing at home this weekend against two tough conference opponents,” said head coach Steve Loeswick. “Both Mercer and Kennesaw State are two talented teams that will test different aspects of our game. It will be another challenging weekend, but we're ready for it.”
On Friday, the conference's top two defensive teams will square off. Mercer is the conference leader in digs, averaging 18.60 digs per set for the season. UNF is in second with 17.30 digs per set. Individually, Mercer's Emily Rochefort has a conference-best 5.56 digs per set, while Nicole Baran is right behind with a 5.50 average.
UNF enters the weekend with wins in its last two matches. The Ospreys are currently 4-0 on its home court in 2012 with three of those wins being 3-0 sweeps. Most recently, UNF swept Stetson on Tuesday night. Baran made 11 digs on the night and became the Ospreys' all-time career leader for digs. She broke Tara Taylor's mark of 1,616 that had stood since 2006 and now has 1,623 career digs.
A four-match road swing begins for Mercer on Friday, which will also be the Bears' first conference road match of the season. Mercer's hosted all five of its A-Sun matches thus far. After starting out with two conference wins, the Bears have dropped their last three matches, including a 3-1 decision to Lipscomb in their most recent match.
UNF and Mercer do share some common ground when it came to both teams' early-season tournament schedule. Both teams competed at the Winthrop Invitational. UNF went a perfect 3-0 on the weekend, while Mercer had a 2-1 record. Both teams had four-set wins over Western Carolina and North Carolina A&T. The only difference in the weekend was that UNF swept Winthrop 3-0, while Mercer fell 3-0 to the Eagles.
UNF holds a 9-6 advantage in the series with Mercer. Last year, the series was split with each team winning on its home court.
Kennesaw State started a four-match road swing with a 3-0 win at Alabama State on Tuesday night. Both Jenna Wilt (11 kills) and Baylee Strachan (10) powered the Owl offense with double-digit kills against Alabama State. The Owls, who play at Jacksonville on Friday night, have had all of their matches except for one decided in either three or four sets this season. Kennesaw State's only five-set match was a 3-2 victory at Mississippi State during its season-opening weekend.
Kennesaw State leads the all-time series 5-3 and has won the last four meetings with the Ospreys.
Friday's match is scheduled to start at 7 p.m., while Saturday's match is at 3 p.m.
**Tickets for UNF volleyball matches are $5 for Adults; $3 for Youth 17-under, Senior Citizens 55+, Active Military and UNF Faculty/Staff. UNF students with a valid Osprey1 card and children under 2 are free. For more information about tickets, click here.
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