JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida volleyball takes a break from conference action to travel to Florida A&M on Tuesday for its final non-conference match of the year. First serve is set for 6 p.m. in Tallahassee.
QUICK HITS
- North Florida swept the ASUN weekly honors for the first time in program history. It is also the most weekly awards won since 2014 when the Ospreys garnered six weekly honors.
- With her 30 digs vs. JU,
Ashley LaBorde is the first player to record 30 or more digs since Cari Whitmire had 32 against USC Upstate.
- Junior
Katarina Raicevic has had two double-doubles in her last three outings including a career-high 18 kills against Jacksonville and was just two blocks shy of a triple-double vs. the Dolphins.
- Freshman
Gabby O'Connell is the first rookie to be named Freshman of the Week four times during the season.
Courtney Miller earned three weekly honors in 2014.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
The Rattlers are 11-11 on the year and riding a seven-match win streak and have only dropped one set in that stretch. Nicole Abreu leads the team on the attack with 239 kills and hitting .263 for the season. Valeria Lopez is averaging 8.82 assists per set and leads the team with 432 total. At the net, Ginna Lopez-Chavez has a team-best 47 total blocks including 14 solo stops. For the season, FAMU is hitting .212 and holding opponents to just .188.
FIRST MEETING
Back on September 20, the teams met at UNF arena with the Ospreys taking the match 3-2. North Florida dominated in the opening two sets, keeping the Rattlers hitting below .130. After the intermission though, FAMU came back with a vengeance and recorded 19 kills in the third frame to the Ospreys nine to win 25-20.
Another strong set from the visitors forced the fifth set which was a close 15-12 in the Ospreys' favor. Nicole Abreu (FAMU) totaled a game-high 22 kills wth 12 digs, while Starmichael Tucker came off the bench to tally 16 kills and 12 digs.
For the Ospreys,
Carinne Turner had a double-double of 16 kills and 15 digs, while
Gabby O'Connell totaled 15 kills and 11 digs. As a team, UNF set a season-best with 20 total blocks, aided by 12 from
Morgan Van Alstine which included two solo stops.
LOOKING FORWARD
The Ospreys host their next four games at home as they continue through ASUN play. FGCU comes to town on Friday at 7 p.m. UNF then looks to sweep Stetson at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
