First Serve: Volleyball Enters ASUN East Division Weekend at Home

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida volleyball enters divisional competition this weekend when it hosts Stetson and FGCU at the UNF Arena to continue ASUN play.

UNF vs. Stetson (Oct. 1 - 7 p.m.) \| UNF vs. FGCU (Oct. 2 - 7 p.m.)
Match 16: Stetson	Friday, Oct. 1 at 7 p.m \| Promotion: Student Food Giveaway
Series History	UNF leads, 24-12
Match 17: FGCU	Saturday, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. \| ZTA Dig Pink Night
Series History	FGCU leads, 23-8
Social Media / Coverage	@OspreyVB \| #SWOOPLife \| @UNFOspreys

Last Time Out
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Middle blocker Bre Walp was about as perfect as you can be offensively, hitting a UNF DI-era record .857 for a three-set match in a Sunday sweep of North Alabama Sept. 26.

Series History
Stetson: UNF and Stetson are familiar foes to put it lightly ... the Ospreys and Hatters have met 36 times ... UNF leads the all-time series, 24-12 ... North Florida has won 13 of 18 meetings in Jacksonville ... the Ospreys are 3-2 against Stetson over the last five meetings, all of which came last year ... North Florida and Stetson first met in 1992 ... the Ospreys swept Stetson in the ASUN Championship Quarterfinals a year ago ... that was their last meeting.ville and two in Florence, Ala ... this is the first meeting between the two teams at a neutral site location.

FGCU: UNF and FGCU are meeting for the 32nd time in series history ... the Ospreys are 2-3 over their last five matches against FGCU ... UNF split four matches against its ASUN East foes a year ago ... North Florida picked up a 3-1 win Feb. 14 of last year, its first win against FGCU since October 27, 2017 ... the Ospreys pulled off a road sweep of FGCU March 6 ... UNF is 5-9 in home matches against the Eagles.

Scouting the Opponent
Stetson: The Hatters come into play 7-8 overall and 2-1 in ASUN competition ... Stetson is tied for fourth in the ASUN East Division ... the Hatters were swept by Jacksonville State ... Stetson defeated UNA, 3-2, and UCA, 3-0 ... Yang Deng is in her fifth season as the head coach of the Hatters ... freshman Nyah Molina is 64th in the nation in assists (458) ... she's been named ASUN Freshman of the Week twice this year ... OH Elena Djokovic was named ASUN Player of the Week Sept. 27.

FGCU: Florida Gulf Coast comes in 11-4 and 3-0 in the ASUN ... FGCU has won four straight ... the Eagles are 2-1 in true road matches ... 10 of FGCU's 11 wins have come via a sweep ... FGCU has earned two power five wins in victories against Rutgers and Georgia ... the Eagles swept Lipscomb, Bellarmine and EKU in Nashville last weekend ... setter Chelsey Lockey paces the league in assists/set, while Erin Shomaker leads the ASUN in kills/set ... libero Dana Axner is the league leader in digs/set ... FGCU was the ASUN Preseason Favorite.

FIRST SERVE
>>UNF comes into play Friday 14-1 and 3-0 in the ASUN, tied with FGCU atop the ASUN East Division.
>>The Ospreys' .933 winning percentage is tied for the sixth best mark in the entire country.
>> North Florida's 14-1 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. After a loss to TCU, UNF turned around to pull off another seven-match winning streak, downing Louisiana Tech, MTSU, FIU, Seton Hall, UCA, Jacksonville State and UNA.
>> The Ospreys are undefeated at home this season, winning all six of their games. The Ospreys are posting 13.57 kills/set, while holding opponents to 9.91 per/set.
>> The best offense is a good defense. UNF has not allowed an opponent to hit above .250 this season. UNF is 34th in the league in opponent's hitting percentage.

AN OSPREY WIN WOULD...
-Give UNF its best start through four games in its ASUN history.
-GIve the Ospreys wins in two of three games against FGCU for the first time since 2004 and 2005.

LOOKING AHEAD
The Ospreys stay at home for a single game against Jacksonville Saturday, Oct. 9. It's the first of two meetings against the Dolphins.

GAINING ALTITUDE
Numbers don't lie, and they certainly are validating UNF's 14-1 record this season. The Ospreys rank atop the ASUN in the following categories as a team:
-Winning % (.933, 6th in DI)
-Total Blocks (128, 29th in DI)

The same can be said for individual play:

-Bre Walp (Blocks/Set - 1.32; 36th in DI)
-Bre Walp (Blocks - 75; 6th in DI)
-Maddie Boyd (Hitting % - .384; 39th in DI)
-Rocio Moro (Digs - 259; 23rd in DI)

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 75 blocks, good for the lead league and sixth 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 14 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.

UNF is riding its second seven-match winning streak of the season. The Ospreys haven't lost since Sept. 9 against TCU.

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 Tech. 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 | 1,301 Kills (5th, 2nd in DI)
   3,812 attacks (3rd, 2nd in DI)

-Julianna Askew | 2444 assists (5th, 2nd in DI)
   [just surpassed Madilyn McCarty & Abby Fesl for 2nd in UNF's DI history]
   9.44 ast/set (4th, 1st in DI)

-Rocio Moro | 1290 digs (7th, 3rd in DI)
   4.98 digs/set (1st, 1st in DI)

SPLIT THE DIFFERENCE
Eight times this year UNF has hit over .250 as a team. Conversely, the Ospreys have held its opponents to below .250 in all 15 matches.
North Florida is hitting .248 as a team, a .092 difference from its foes .156 mark. The highest a team has hit against UNF was TCU's .226 tally.

21 SAVAGE
Dariana Hollingsworth-Santana provided 21 kills in UNF's 3-1 win against Central Arkansas in the ASUN opener. It was a career high for the former Missouri Tiger, and the first time she reached the 20-kill benchmark.

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 6.68 assists/set. Antar has played 45 sets, while Askew has played 68.

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.
-7 different Ospreys have led a match in kills
-3 Ospreys have led a match in digs
-4 players have paced the team in blocks
-6 different Ospreys led in aces

YOU'VE BEEN SERVED
Gabby O'Connell became UNF's all-time leader in service attempts last weekend, reaching 1,561.

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 (98).

-Kills (1,301)
-Assists (102)
-Digs (1,162)
-Blocks (158)

WHEN IN JAX, DO AS THE OSPREYS DO
While UNF is 6-0 at home this season, the Ospreys are 9-0 in matches played in cities named Jacksonville. The Ospreys swept its weekend in Jacksonville, Ala.

North Florida has picked up at least one sweep in all three of those weekends.

THIRD TIMES A CHARM
UNF is 14-0 when winning the 3rd set this year. The Ospreys have only dropped 12 sets.

SEEING DOUBLE
UNF has combined to tally 13 double-doubles this year. The Ospreys have had at least one double-double in 11 of 15 matches. Dariana Hollingsworth-Santana leads the team with eight.

X 'EM OUT
UNF is leading the ASUN in blocks with 128. The Ospreys are averaging an impressive 2.2 blocks/set. UNF has 8 more blocks than the next closest team.

WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH
The Ospreys hit .500 in the decisive fifth set against Jacksonville State, but arguably the turning point in the 3-2 win was UNF's navigation around three JSU set points in a 27-25 set three victory.

THAT'S A FIRST
North Florida's 14-1 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: Volleyball Enters ASUN East Division Weekend at Home

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Annie Antar

Julianna Askew

Maddie Boyd

Dariana Hollingsworth-Santana

Rocio Moro

Gabby O'Connell

Bre Walp

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