First Serve: ASUN Volleyball Crossover Vol. 1 - Jacksonville State

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The format will be the nearly the same as it has the last four weekends, with the Ospreys playing three matches from Friday to Sunday. But, this rendition will be slightly different as UNF volleyball plays its first ASUN Crossover with matches against Central Arkansas, Jacksonville State and North Alabama in Jacksonville, Ala.

ASUN Crossover @ Jacksonville State \| Friday, Sept. 24-Sunday, Sept. 26
Match 13: UCA	Friday, Sept. 24 at 4 p.m. EST
Series History	UCA leads, 1-0
Match 14: JSU	Saturday, Sept. 25 at 7 p.m. EST
Series History	UNF leads, 1-0
Match 15: UNA	Sunday, Sept. 26 at 3 p.m. EST
Series History	UNF leads, 4-0
Social Media / Coverage	@OspreyVB \| #SWOOPLife \| @UNFOspreys

Live stats will be provided for all matches, although no stream will be available for any of the matches.

Quick Glance
1. Last Time Out
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida (11-1) took care of business in its first-ever home match against a Big East opponent, sweeping Seton Hall (7-6) to win the UNF Sunshine Tourney Saturday, Sept. 18 at the UNF Arena.

2. Series History
UCA: UCA won the only meeting in series history ... UNF and UCA met Nov. 22, 2008 at a neutral site in Spartanburg, S.C., where Central Arkansas won in five sets.
JSU: UNF won the lone encounter with Jacksonville State, a 3-0 sweep of JSU in Tampa, one day beyond 28 years to the date of Saturday's match.
UNA: The Ospreys are 4-0 against UNA, having won a pair of meetings in Jacksonville and two in Florence, Ala ... this is the first meeting between the two teams at a neutral site location.

3. The Opponent
UCA: The Sugar Bears are 2-7 and 1-3 in neutral site games this year ... Central Arkansas' lone wins have come against Arkansas-Little Rock and Southern Illinois ... head coach John Newberry is in his second season at UCA ... Central Arkansas went 12-8 in its final year in the Southland ... the Sugar Bears lost a key starting outside hitter, libero and setter heading into the season ... Lexi Miller paces UCA with 3.41 kills/set.

JSU: The Gamecocks lead the way in the ASUN West Division at 10-3 ... six of JSU's wins have come via straight sets ... its lone losses have come against Wyoming, No. 22 Tennessee and No. 9 Purdue ... Jacksonville State is 8-0 at home ... the Gamecocks are 46-15 over the last three seasons ... DS/Libero Brooklyn Schiffli was named ASUN Freshman of the Week in the opener week of the year ... Lexie Libs was named the league's player of the week Sept. 13 ... JSU goes as Lena Kindermann goes ... she's leading the team with 149 kills at 3.63 kills/set.

UNA: The Lions are 6-7 and winners of each of their last two ... Nort Alabama has defeated Alcorn State (twice), Gardner-Webb, South Carolina State and Alabama A&M (twice) ... head coach Andre Kroger is in his first year leading the Lions ... Katy Floyd leads the team with 101 kills ... Breylee Linder is UNA's primary setter, posting 6.61 assists/set ... Katie Gregg's 2.44 digs/set leads the team ... the Lions are out-hitting teams, .202 to .170 for the season.

FIRST SERVE
>>UNF comes into play 11-1 and atop all of the ASUN, both the East and West Divisions.
>>The Ospreys' .917 winning percentage is the 14th best mark in the entire country.
>> North Florida's 11-1 start is its best to a season since the 2003 campaign. UNF began the year 7-0, winning matches against Wofford, FAU, Stony Brook, Virginia Tech, Georgia State, Davidson and Houston Baptist.
>> The Navy and Gray play two neutral site matches this weekend. North Florida is undefeated in neutral site play this year. UNF is hitting .255 whiile holding foes to .179 hitting in neutral site competition.
>> The best offense is a good defense. UNF has not allowed an opponent to hit above .250 this season. UNF is leading the league in opponent's hitting percentage, good for 38th in all of Division I.

AN OSPREY WIN WOULD...
- A win Friday would be UNF's first win against UCA in program record.
- North Florida knocking off JSU would provide the Ospreys with its second true road victory of the year.
- The Ospreys would stay perfect in series history with UNA by winning Sunday.

LOOKING AHEAD
Looking past this weekend, North Florida enters a three-match homestand with ASUN East Division competition. UNF hosts Stetson and FGCU Oct. 1-2; it'll play round one of the River City Rumble Oct. 9 against Jacksonville.

FEAR THE SEABIRD OF PREY (NOT CANDY)
We are the Ospreys - which is Os-PRAYS - not Os-PREES.

GAINING ALTITUDE
Numbers don't lie, and they certainly are validating UNF's 11-1 record this season. The Ospreys rank atop the ASUN in the following categories as a team:
-Hitting % (.251, 56th in DI)
-Winning % (.917, 14th in DI)
-Opp. Hitting % (.154, 38th in DI)
-Total Blocks (100, 57th in DI)

The same can be said for individual play:

-Bre Walp (Blocks/Set - 1.36; 32nd in DI)
-Bre Walp (Blocks - 61; 8th in DI)
-Maddie Boyd (Hitting % - .389; 46th in DI)

Rocio Moro ranks number two in the league in both digs/set (4.68) and total digs (206). Nationally, Moro finds herself No. 55 and No. 45 respectively.

CATCH-22
UNF swept Seton Hall in the UNF Sunshine Tourney finale Sunday, Sept. 18. The Ospreys posted video game numbers in the match, tallying 22 kills in the first set. North Florida committed only three attack errors on 51 total attacks, hitting .373. Dariana Hollingsworth-Santana put up six kills in the first set alone. The 22-kill first set is the most by an Osprey team in a set ending at 25 since UNF put up the same amount in frame one against Bethune-Cookman Oct. 4, 2016.

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)

Moro also made history for the ASUN after claiming two 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 six ASUN Defensive Player of the Week honors. If you combine her ASUN Freshman of the Week honors, Moro has tallied 10 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 (5.01) and digs/set in a season (5.24).

Walp's numbers are eye-popping this year as she leads a slew of strong blockers. The middle blocker has 61 blocks, good for the lead league and eighth in the country. Consistency has been paramount for her as she has put up at least two blocks in every match, while recording four matches with seven blocks or more.

FUN IS WINNING & WINNING IS FUN
UNF's route to 11 wins is the fastest in the program's DI history. North Florida started the year off with a seven-match winning streak, its longest such winning streak since 2015.

North Florida's 3-2 win against Virginia Tech was its first victory against a Power Five Team since defeating Ole Miss in 2005. UNF picked up its first-ever win against an ACC team with the win against Virginia Tehc. It also nabbed win number one against a Big East Team by downing Seton Hall.

RECORDS ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN
Match-by-match, multiple Ospreys continue to take another step up the rungs on the record book ladder.

-Gabby O'Connell | 1,284 Kills (6th, 2nd in DI)
3,742 attacks (3rd, 2nd in DI)

-Julianna Askew | 2319 assists (6th, 3rd in DI)
[just surpassed Madilyn McCarty for 3rd in UNF's DI history]
9.39 ast/set (4th, 1st in DI)

-Rocio Moro | 1237 digs (7th, 3rd in DI)
5.01 digs/set (1st, 1st in DI)

SPLIT THE DIFFERENCE
Seven times this year UNF has hit over .250 as a team. Conversely, the Ospreys have held its opponents to below .250 in all 12 matches.
North Florida is hitting .251 as a team, a .097 difference from its foes .154 mark. The highest a team has hit against UNF was TCU's .226 tally.

0-0
All ASUN teams enter play with a 0-0 record -- the Ospreys are 8-8 in ASUN openers since joining the league. North Florida downed FGCU, 3-1, in the ASUN opener last year, UNF's first win against the Eagles since 2017.

DOUBLE-A BATTERY (ANTAR & ASKEW)
Annie Antar and Julianna Askew have been the two-headed attack at setter in UNF's 6-2 operation this season.

Antar has tallied four double-doubles, while Askew paces the pair with 5.77 assists/set. Antar has played 45 sets, while Askew has played 44.

WHO CAN IT BE NOW?
UNF's success has been catalyzed by balance and the variety of options on the court at any given time.

-6 different Ospreys have led a match in kills
-3 Ospreys have led a match in digs
-4 players have paced the team in blocks
-5 different Ospreys led in aces

"ACING" ON THE CAKE
UNF set a season high in aces with 10 against MTSU September 17. Dariana Hollingsworth-Santana notched four in that match. Grace Youngblood and Julianna Askew have also provided four aces in a match this year.

KEEPIN' IT 100! (AND 1,000)
With two assists against Seton Hall, Gabby O'Connell reached 100-career assists. She has at least 100 notches in nearly every major stat category besides aces (96).

-Kills (1,284)
-Assists (100)
-Digs (1,126)
-Blocks (153)

OSPREYS IN THE TRAP SING MCKNIGHT
Kailey McKnight has been a super-sub for the Ospreys this year, providing a huge lift off the bench in multiple games.

The outside hitter has started two matches this year, seeing time in 23 sets while posting 2.00 kills/set and a .323 hitting percentage. She notched 7 kills on .600 hitting off the bench vs. Davidson and is hitting .339 in matches in which she's coming off the bench.

THIRD TIMES A CHARM
UNF is 11-0 when winning the 3rd set this year. The Ospreys have only dropped nine sets.

SEEING DOUBLE
UNF has combined to tally 11 double-doubles this year. The Ospreys have had at least one double-double in nine of 12 matches. Dariana Hollingsworth-Santana leads the team with six.

X 'EM OUT
UNF reached 100 blocks on the season last Sunday. The Ospreys are averaging an impressive 2.22 blocks/set. UNF has 14 more blocks than the next highest mark in the ASUN.

THAT'S A FIRST
North Florida's 11-1 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

First Serve: ASUN Volleyball Crossover Vol. 1 - Jacksonville State

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Annie Antar

Julianna Askew

Maddie Boyd

Dariana Hollingsworth-Santana

Kailey McKnight

Rocio Moro

Gabby O'Connell

Bre Walp

Grace Youngblood

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First Serve: ASUN Volleyball Crossover Vol. 1 - Jacksonville State

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Annie Antar

Julianna Askew

Maddie Boyd

Dariana Hollingsworth-Santana

Kailey McKnight

Rocio Moro

Gabby O'Connell

Bre Walp

Grace Youngblood

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