JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - UNF Volleyball begins a four-match road swing with two ASUN East Division matchups this weekend. The Ospreys go to FGCU Friday night and Stetson Saturday, Oct. 30. Both first serve are set for 6 p.m.
 

UNF at FGCU (Oct. 29 at 6 p.m.) | UNF at Stetson (Oct. 30 at 6 p.m.)
Match 24: at FGCU	Friday, Oct. 29 at 6 p.m.
Series History	FGCU leads, 27-8
Match 25: Stetson	Saturday, Oct. 30 at 6 p.m.
Series History	UNF leads, 26-11
Social Media / Coverage	@OspreyVB | #SWOOPLife | @UNFOspreys

1. Series History
Very familiar foes are on the schedule this weekend, with UNF going head-to-head with FGCU and Stetson at least five times each in less than one calendar year ... FGCU, Stetson and UNF were all part of the Spring 2021 ASUN South Division before joining the ASUN East Division this season with the addition of UCA, EKU and Jacksonville State.
FGCU: UNF has taken two of the last five matches against FGCU ... UNF got ahead 2-0 before FGCU pulled off a 3-2 in the last meeting Oct. 2, 2021 at UNF ... UNF and FGCU split two games March 6-7 at FGCU last year.
Stetson: UNF and Stetson are meeting for the 38th time ... the Ospreys lead the series 26-11 ... UNF has won the last three ... North Florida pulled off a reverse sweep Feb. 25 ... UNF is 11-5 in DeLand.

2. Scouting Report
FGCU: The Eagles are the lone undefeated team in ASUN play at 11-0 and 19-4 overall ... FGCU took down ASUN West Division leading Jacksonville State, 3-0, in their last time out ... FGCU reached the ASUN Championship last year, falling 16-14 in set five to Lipscomb ... the Eagles are on a 12-match winning streak dating back to September 17 vs. Miami ... FGCU comes in with a 50 RPI ... FGCU ranks 8th in the nation in opponent's hitting percentage.
Stetson: The Hatters went 2-1 at the ASUN Crossover at UNF last weekend ... Stetson is fourth in the ASUN East Division ... outside hitter Elena Djokovic ranks 1st in the ASUN in kills and total attacks ... setter Nyah Molina ranks 5th in the ASUN in assists/set and assists.

3. Of Note
North Florida is 20-3, making the Ospreys tied for the most wins in NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball ... UNF has reached the 20-win milestone for the first time since the 2015 season ... UNF's RPI stands at 62 ... it was as high as 49 this season ... Gabby O'Connell's next appearance will give her 127, the most in UNF Division I history ... O'Connell is eight sets shy of playing in the most sets in UNF history ... she has 468 ... UNF paces the league in assists ... Bre Walp still leads the league in blocks and is seventh in the country with 109 ... Rocio Moro earned her seventh ASUN Defensive Player of the Week award last week, adding to her already record-setting seven such honors ... UNF's 1,160 kills is 15th in the county ... six Ospreys have 100+ kills.

FIRST SERVE
>> North Florida comes into play Friday 20-3 and 9-2 in the ASUN, second in the ASUN East Division.
>> UNF is the only team in the conference with 20 wins.
>> The Ospreys are tied with Creighton, Ball State, Delaware State, Louisville and Western Kentucky.
>> North Florida is 62nd in the last NCAA RPI. UNF has been as high as 49 this season. UNF's 49 RPI is its highest RPI ranking in UNF DI history.
>> The Ospreys have the 9th best winning percentage in the nation. 

AN OSPREY WIN WOULD...
- Bring UNF within one game of the ASUN East Division lead if it were to beat FGCU Friday.

-Give UNF four consecutive wins against Stetson. If UNF beats FGCU and Stetson, the Ospreys will have their most wins in a season since winning 22 matches in 2012. UNF reached the ASUN Championship match that season.

LOOKING AHEAD
North Florida stays on the road for the second edition of the River City Rumble Saturday, Nov. 6. UNF completes is four-match road stint at FSU Nov. 9.

SEASONS COME & GO, BUT I'll NEVER CHANGE
Graduate student Gabby O'Connell is continuing to knock down more and more records by the week. O'Connell is one appearance shy of breaking the UNF DI-era record for most matches played. She is currently tied with UNF greats, Nicole Baran and Paige Pridgeon, with 126. O'Connell has 468 sets played, eight shy of the UNF program record. Nicole Baran leads the way with 475 sets played. 

At Kennesaw State Oct. 17, O'Connell reached 100-career aces, making her just the third Osprey in program history to have at least: 1,000 kills, 1,000 digs, 100 blocks, 100 assists and 100 aces. Last weekend O'Connell surpassed Becky De Jong in the career-digs list, reaching 1,230 for eighth all-time. She is 71 digs shy of tying Paige Pridgeon for seventh in UNF history.The outside hitter is 24 attack attempts short of becoming just the third Osprey to tally 4,000 attack attempts. She also has 1,363 kills, fifth in program history. She is 41 kills away from tying Kierstan Jackowicz for fourth all-time.

DOUBLE A
Setters Annie Antar and Julianna Askew teamed up to be a problem for opponents. Their total assist numbers nearly mirrored each other last weekend.

vs. Bellarmine | Askew 20 assists, Antar 19 assists
vs. EKU | Askew 25 assists, Antar 21 assists
vs. Lipscomb | Askew 25 assists, Antar 24 assists

TGIF
UNF is a perfect 10-0 in matches played on Friday and 4-0 in ASUN matches played on Friday.


BESTING THE WEST
After sweeping the ASUN Crossover Weekend at UNF with wins against Bellarmine, EKU and Lipscomb, the Ospreys will conclude the regular season a perfect 6-0 against ASUN West Division competition.

"PROTEC & ATTAC"
Middle blockers Bre Walp and Maddie Boyd have been two of the most dominant middle blockers in the league, helping elevate UNF to second in the ASUN in blocks (190) and fourth in blocks/set (2.25). 

Walp has 109 blocks, first in the ASUN and seventh nationally, while Boyd has 78 blocks. 

They're no slouches offensively either, as Boyd is hitting .346 with 151 kills. Her hitting percentage  is 91st in the country and third in the ASUN. 

Walp paced the Ospreys with 13 kills at Kennesaw State, the second most in her career for a single game. She also added 10 kills in the 3-1 win against Lipscomb Sunday, Oct. 24.

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
The Ospreys have six different players with at least 100 kills. Dariana Hollingsworth-Santana paces the team with 273, while Gabby O'Connell is next up with 170. Solimar Cestero, Maddie Boyd, Bre Walp and Anna Butler all have over 100 kills.

THEN THERE WERE TWO
UNF's all-time career digs/set record holder, Rocio Moro, surpassed former Osprey great, Cari Whitmire, for second in digs during UNF's DI days. Moro has 1,441 digs and 4.99 digs/set. Moro is only behind Nicole Baran who touts 1,929 over 475 sets. For context, Moro has played 289 sets.

Moro's reception percentage of .961 also ranks third in UNF history and the best among liberos. Taryn Griffey and Erin Edwards are the lone former Ospreys ahead of Moro, both of which were middle blockers.

HOMEY
UNF is 11-1 at home this year and have earned four sweeps in the process. The ospreys are hitting .264 as a team and averaging 2.17 blocks/set, while holding opponents to .147 hitting across the nine matches.The Ospreys have 623 kills to 479 for opposing teams, along with a +32 aces margin.

THE WALL
Middle blocker Bre Walp finally became eligible in the UNF Career Record books for the blocks/set season record after surpassing 150 sets played this season. The middle blocker is third in UNF history for blocks/set in a season with 1.09. Her total is currently the best for a single season in UNF's DI era.


WHOLE SQUAD READY
UNF played its entire roster in Friday's 3-1 win against Bellarmine. All 17 Ospreys saw time, with Lachelle Sikes making her collegiate debut. Jessica Buis picked up the first two kills of her UNF career and Grace Peterson grabbed two block assists, the first of her season.

THE OSPREY CURTAIN
UNF has been racking up the ASUN Defensive Player of the Week awards this season. 

So much so that the Ospreys set a conference record for the most ASUN Defensive Player of the Week awards earned in consecutive weeks, winning all four thus far in 2021. 

The previous record was three, shared by FGCU and ETSU. 

ASUN Defensive Player of the Week Awards:
-Bre Walp (Aug. 30, 2021)
-Rocio Moro (Sept. 7, 2021)
-Rocio Moro (Sept. 13, 2021)
-Bre Walp (Sept. 20, 2021)
-Rocio Moro (Oct. 25, 2021)

Moro also made history for the ASUN after claiming three more ASUN Defensive Player of the Week awards during this fall season. The San Juan, P.R., native is the first player in conference history to earn seven ASUN Defensive Player of the Week honors. 

If you combine her ASUN Freshman of the Week honors, Moro has tallied 11 weekly awards to go with her Spring 2021 ASUN Defensive Player of the Year honor and Fall 2021 ASUN Preseason Defensive Player of the Year award.

Moro was recognized as a Volleyballmag.com All-Freshman Team Honorable Mention in December of 2019. She's also picked up Spring 2021 ASUN First Team honors and 2019 ASUN All-Freshman squad laurels. The libero is the UNF all-time record holder for career digs/set (4.99).

Walp's numbers are eye-popping this year as she leads a slew of strong blockers. The middle blocker has 109 blocks, good for the lead league and seventh in the country. Consistency has been paramount for her as she has put up at least two blocks in every match, while recording five matches with seven blocks or more.

RECORD WATCH
Match-by-match, multiple Ospreys continue to take another step up the rungs on the record book ladder.

-Gabby O'Connell | 1,363 Kills (5th, 2nd in DI)
3,976 attacks (3rd, 2nd in DI)
-Julianna Askew | 2,603 assists (5th, 2nd in DI)
9.13 ast/set (4th, 1st in DI)
-Rocio Moro | 1,441 digs (5th, 2nd in DI)
4.99 digs/set (1st, 1st in DI)

THAT'S A FIRST
North Florida's 17-3 start has seen a series of "firsts" in program history.

-First win against an ACC Team
-First victory against a Big East Team
-First time hosting a Big East program
-First time going 7-0 to start the season
-Highest RPI ranking (49) in DI history
-First win against Liberty in program history
-UNF earned its first win vs. Lipscomb since '12.
-Head coach Kristen Wright has earned at least one win against every current ASUN team.

IF IT AIN'T ONE, IT'S ANOTHER
UNF's success has been catalyzed by balance and the variety of options on the court at any given time. 

-7 different Ospreys have led a match in kills
-3 Ospreys have led a match in digs
-5 players have paced the team in blocks
-7 different Ospreys led in aces