MATCH POINT - Beach Volleyball’s 2022 Season Opens at FSU - University of North Florida Athletics

Saturday, February 26

Tallahassee, Fla.

8 a.m.

University of North Florida

Cal Poly

unf beach volleyball preview with pose shot of Leah

MATCH POINT - Beach Volleyball’s 2022 Season Opens at FSU

2/25/2022 12:00:00 PM | Beach Volleyball

Live Stats (vs. Cal Poly)Live Stats (vs. Tampa)Live Stats (vs. Southern Miss)Live Stats (vs. UAB)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida beach volleyball embarks on the 2022 season with four matches at the Florida State Tournament Saturday and Sunday. UNF takes on No. 8 Cal Poly, Tampa, Southern Mississippi and UAB in the opening neutral site tournament of the year.

The Ospreys look to defend their 2021 ASUN Beach Volleyball Championship and get back into the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Collegiate Beach Volleyball Poll top 20 after doing so last year.

Last Time Out
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida beach volleyball finished off last season with a 24-10 overall record. Dana Roskic and Antonia Harrison clinched in the ASUN championships against #1 Stetson in a 3-2 win on April 25th in Deland.

Getting "Wright"
Doug Wright is in his first season as head coach of the Ospreys after being named head coach in November of 2021 … Wright is no stranger to the Ospreys after serving as a volunteer assistant coach for four seasons … during those four years, UNF went 65-42 and won the ASUN title in 2021, while making another appearance in the finals back in 2018.

Rewind
Last season was a historic year for UNF … North Florida defeated three nationally ranked teams, including No. 16 Stetson in the ASUN Championship … UNF went 24-10 as a team and earned their first-ever AVCA Collegiate Beach Volleyball ranking.

Of Note
Lauren Galinis, Taryn Griffey, Carleigh Semeniuk, and Callie Workman were all named to the All-ASUN Preseason Team … Galinis secured a 23-11 record last year with Semeniuk as her partner, earning ASUN All-Tournament honors after going 6-0 in the postseason … Griffey and Workman joined Galinis and Semeniuk as All-ASUN Second Team honors last season … Galinis and Semeniuk earned the most wins by any pair at three slot last year … Workman picked up AVCA Top Flight Honors in 2019, preseason all-conference honors in 2021, and preseason all-conference honors this year as well.

Scouting Report
Cal Poly: Cal Poly enters ranked No. 8 in the nation … the Mustangs won their second-straight Big West Championship last season, earning a trip to the NCAA Championship … Cal Poly defeated Stanford before being eliminated by UCLA … the squad returns five All-Big West honorees from last year's team.

Tampa: Tampa went 19-11 a year ago, finishing the year on an eight-match winning streak … the Spartans won the AVCA Small College Championships last year, defeating Spring Hill for the title … Tampa is coached by Jeff Lamm in his fourth season as the first head coach in program history.

Southern Miss: Southern Miss went 11-26 overall while struggling mightily in conference play last season, going just 1-14 … the Golden Eagles top pair of Kylie Grandy and Abbey Wilson went 21-16 the top slot a year ago, although neither are returning this season … Breleigh Favre, the daughter of Pro Football Hall of Famer, Brett Favre, is a senior for Southern Miss.

UAB: UAB is in year two under the tutelage of head coach Terri Del Conte … the Blazers are led by returner Rachel Tam who posted 14 victories at the top pair last year … Mikayla Law-Heese returns to join Tam in another season as playing partners … indoor volleyball AVCA All-South Region honoree Fernanda Maida joins UAB on the beach side.