Live Stats | Live Video (vs. Houston Baptist)
 
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – North Florida volleyball faces off against all new opponents when it continues its season-opening road stretch, Friday and Saturday, at the Houston Baptist Barcelona Labor Day Classic.
 
BLOCK PARTY
Morgan Van Alstine is currently third in the nation in total blocks with 23. The top spot is held by two players at 24.
 
WE DIG IT
Sophomore Ashley LaBorde was ninth after the weekend in digs (75), but as teams played on Monday and Tuesday, she moved into 17^th.
 
NO NERVES HERE
Freshman Gabby O'Connell has had little trouble adjusting to the college game as she ranks third in the ASUN and 18^th in the nation with eight aces.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Houston Baptist (1-3) | Friday - Noon
- Lone win came against Louisiana Lafayette at their opening tournament, while being blanked by Houston and Weber State
- Picked to finish third in the Southland after returning five starters and 13 total letterwinners
- Kayla Amer, Jessica Wooten and Bailey Banks were named All-Southland Preseason
- Coming off a 17-17 season and was a runner-up in the tournament as a sixth seed
 
Northern Colorado (1-2) | Friday – 4:30 p.m.
- Bears are coming off a 3-1 loss to No. 25 Colorado State on Tuesday, while picking up their lone win against North Dakota State, 3-2
- Kortney Lockey leads the team with 50 total kills, while Ashley Guthrie and Alex Kloehn top the team in hitting | Guthrie, a 2015 All-Big Sky setter, also runs the offense with 120 assists
- Picked second in the Big Sky after returning 12 players from the co-North Division champions team
 
Penn (0-0) | Saturday – 11 a.m.
- Penn is the youngest team in the Ivy only six juniors – no seniors
- The matches in Houston are the first of the season for Penn
- Finished 13-13 and 7-7 in Ivy in 2015
- Lost three of their top hitters, but return Kendall Covington who had 141 kills and hit .257 for the year and 57 total blocks including a team-best 15 solo stops

Toledo  (2-1)  | Saturday – 3 p.m.
- Blanked by Dayton in their opening game, but then bounced back with wins against Wright State and SIUE
- Finished sixth in the MAC West with a 3-13 record, but returns all starters and13 letterwinners
- Currently Saige Thomas leads the attack with 35 kills, while Rachel Vidourek is right behind with 31
- Carly Townsend owns 137 assists while also helping at the net with 10 total blocks

UNF NOTABLES

• UNF has had just one match with below a .200 hitting percentage; vs. FAU .161
• Senior Carina Hoff had a career-high 22 kills against FAU, while Gabby O'Connell posted a team-best in kills twice during the weekend (Drake & Bethune)
• Last season, 12 of the Ospreys' 21 victories came in straight sets, while six were in five-sets.
• Morgan Van Alstine now ranks fourth in the UNF record book with 325 total blocks and is just 15 behind third place.

 
LOOKING AHEAD
The Ospreys return to UNF Arena next weekend as they host the Best Western Osprey Invite. UNF plays host to Nicholls State, Mercer and FIU on Friday, Sept. 9 and Saturday, Sept. 10, respectively.