@OspreyVB Opens #ASunVB Schedule Against Jacksonville in the River City Rumble

Friday, September 25

Jacksonville, Fla.

7:00 p.m.

University of North Florida

Jacksonville

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@OspreyVB Opens #ASunVB Schedule Against Jacksonville in the River City Rumble

9/24/2015 5:00:00 PM | Volleyball

By: Preston Edwards, North Florida Athletics

Live Stats
ESPN3 Broadcast
Tickets
Weekly Notes

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The first River City Rumble match of the year will also serve as the Atlantic Sun Conference opener for University of North Florida volleyball as the Ospreys host cross-town rival Jacksonville on Friday night at 7 p.m., at UNF Arena.

"We are excited to start A-Sun competition," said head coach Steve Loeswick. "We have had a solid start to the year. Now we get to play JU in front of our students and fans to start A-Sun play. It should be a really fun night. JU is a very good team and has won the conference tournament the last two years. They have had a bit of a slow start, but as with every rivalry game, records coming into the match don't matter. Our team is excited to play and will be ready for the challenge and the start of this year's River City Rumble."

This is the first River City Rumble meeting for any sport in the 2015-16 season, which marks the 11th year of the rivalry between Jacksonville's two Division-I universities. The two athletic programs battle for 22 possible points and whoever scores more wins the Old Wooden Barrel. UNF won last year's River City Rumble 14-8 and has retained the Old Wooden Barrel since winning the 2011-12 battle. Friday marks the first of two opportunities for North Florida volleyball to gain a barrel point.

Tickets for Friday night's match are $5 for adult; $3 for Youth under 17, Senior Citizens 55+, Military and UNF Faculty and Staff with proper ID. Students with a valid Osprey1 Card and Children 2-and-under are free. Tickets can be purchased online at www.UNFOspreys.com, by phone at (904) 620-BIRD (2473) or at UNF Arena.

Match Day Need to Know
Dates	Friday, Sept. 25
Times	7 p.m.
Place	UNF Arena
Opponent	Jacksonville
Live Stats	www.UNFOspreys.com
Live Video	ESPN3
Twitter	@OspreyVB

Osprey Earns First A-Sun Honor: Erin Edwards was selected as the Atlantic Sun's Defensive Player of the Week, on Monday. Edwards racked up 18 blocks and averaged 1.29 blocks per set in four matches for the week of Sept. 14-20. This is the first conference honor Edwards has won in her career. She joins Kimberly Ferguson (Defensive Player of the Week – Sept. 8) and Carina Hoff (Player of the Week – Sept. 14) as the three Ospreys to earn conference honors so far this season.

Hot Start: With an 11-3 start, UNF enters Friday on a seven-match winning streak. North Florida's .786 winning percentage is currently the best in the Atlantic Sun Conference. Friday marks the first time in program history that the Ospreys enter A-Sun Conference play with double digit wins. The previous best was eight wins in 2012, which was in head coach Steve Loeswick's first season.

Home Sweet Home: This will be the first time that UNF will open conference play at home since 2010. Including a Thursday conference start in 2005 and a Tuesday conference-opener in 2008, North Florida is 7-12 during Atlantic Sun Conference opening weekends. Under Steve Loeswick, the Ospreys are 28-15 at UNF Arena.

Friday Fun: UNF is 6-0 in matches played on Fridays so far, which includes two five-set matches against Eastern Kentucky (Sept. 4) and Wright State (Sept. 18), two four-set matches against FIU (Aug. 28) and Campbell (Sept. 11) and two three-set matches against Tennessee Tech (Sept. 4) and Bethune-Cookman (Sept. 11).

Block Party: The Ospreys lead the A-Sun in total blocks, blocks per set and block assists. Their 106 total blocks (2.08 blocks per set) make the Ospreys the only team in the conference to surpass the century mark in that stat. The team has racked up 170 total block assists this year, which are 18 more than the next best. Morgan Van Alstine and Erin Edwards lead UNF in blocks with 48 and 43, respectively.

Limiting Errors: UNF is the only team to have two of the top five players in hitting percentage in the A-Sun. Katarina Raicevic leads the conference with a .358 hitting percentage and Carina Hoff is fifth with .336.

That's An Ace: North Florida ranks second in the A-Sun in total service aces. Abby Fesl and Kimberly Ferguson have combined to serve 33 of the Ospreys' 73 aces.

Scouting Jacksonville: Comes in losing eight of its last nine matches, but have faced a myriad of tough opponents through a non-conference schedule that included three SEC schools in Auburn, Tennessee and Mississippi... are the two-time defending Atlantic Sun Champions, which included the 2014 title during head coach Julie Darty's first season… Mayara Prestes leads the A-Sun in digs and Emily Laskelle is second in the conference in kills... Prestes' 6.09 digs per set ranks the third highest in the NCAA, while Laskelle's 184 kills are tied for the 51st most nationally.

UNF-JU Series: UNF leads the all-time series 15-13, but JU has won four of the last five meetings... head coach Steve Loeswick is 4-4 against the Dolphins.

Friday Night Promotion: The first 200 fans to show that they either "Like" or "Follow" @OspreyVB on Twitter, UNF_Volleyball on Instagram, or UNF_Volleyball on Snapchat will receive a free t-shirt.