JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida volleyball enters ASUN play with two matches against familiar opponents in FGCU and Stetson. UNF takes on the Eagles Friday and goes up against the Hatters Saturday, with both matches being played at Jacksonville University's Swisher Gymnasium as the UNF Arena continues to undergo renovations. 

Both matches are free to attend and can be streamed for free on SWOOPLife Live.

1. Series History
FGCU: UNF and FGCU are set to meet for the 38th time ... all but one of those meetings have been as Division I foes ... UNF and FGCU first met in 2004 ... the Ospreys and Eagles haven't met in a neutral site since 2012 ... UNF leads the series in neutral site meetings, 2-1 ... FGCU has won 29 meetings, with UNF winning eight ... North Florida and FGCU last met Nov. 19, 2021 in the ASUN Championship Semifinals ... UNF got a pair of wins against FGCU in the Spring 2021 season ... UNF and FGCU went five sets in the first meeting between the two teams a year ago.
Stetson: UNF and Stetson are long-time foes as well, having played each other 38 times already ... the Ospreys pace the head-to-head series, 27-11 ... UNF and Stetson first met in 1992 ... UNF and Stetson faced each other twice last year, with the Ospreys taking both meetings ... UNF is on a four-match winning streak against Stetson ... the last time Stetson took a match against UNF was March 19, 2021 ... UNF and Stetson met five times during the spring 2021 season ... UNF and Stetson have only met at a neutral site once, which came Aug. 25, 2007 in Statesboro, Ga. ... UNF and Stetson are meeting for the 31st time as ASUN foes ... North Florida and Stetson have a penchant for going deep into matches ... the Ospreys and Hatters have played to five sets four times in the last eight meetings ... UNF is 19-11 against Stetson in ASUN meetings.

2. Scouting Report
FGCU: FGCU was the standout favorite in the ASUN Conference Preseason Poll ... the Eagles took home 13 of the 14 first place votes in the preseason coaches poll as FGCU was tabbed as the preseason favorite ... FGCU was selected to finish above Jacksonville State (2nd) and Kennesaw State (3rd) ... setter Chelsey Lockey was tabbed as the ASUN Preseason Setter of the Year ... teammate Erin Shomaker was selected as the ASUN Preseason Player of the Year as the reigning conference player of the year ... FGCU won the ASUN Conference Title a year ago and eventually went on to win a match in the NCAA Championship, taking down Texas Tech, 3-2, in the opening round ... the Eagles fell to eventual NCAA Champion, Wisconsin ... FGCU also added Lily Felts, a transfer out of Tennessee that actually faced off against North Florida in 2018.
Stetson: Stetson is off to one of its best starts in recent history ... the Hatters are led by three-year mainstay on the outside, Elena Djokovic ... Stetson relies on the quarterback of the offense, Nyah Molina, an athletic and offensive-minded setter ... the Hatters were 8-8 in the league last year and were tabbed to finish eighth in the league per the ASUN Preseason Coaches Poll ... Annabelle Standish has had a strong start, posting 103 kills thus far.

AN OSPREY WIN WOULD...
vs. FGCU: Be UNF's first win against FGCU in the city of Jacksonville since Feb. 14, 2021... snap a four-match losing streak to FGCU.
vs. Stetson: Give UNF a five-match winning streak against the Hatters ... give UNF its 20th-ASUN win against Stetson.

ON THE RECORD
Solimar Cestero is knocking on the door of some longevity honors in the Navy and Gray. The graduate student cracked the top ten for sets played (441) last weekend, while reaching 123 matches played in Iowa. She is 14 matches away from breaking former teammate Gabby O'Connell's UNF DI-era match played record.

GOOD JUJU
UNF is undefeated at Jacksonville University during head coach Kristen Wright's tenure. This is the first time UNF is facing a team other than Jacksonville at Swisher Gymnasium.

UNF is playing its home matches at Jacksonville University as the UNF Arena is undergoing upgrades, most notably the reconstruction of the original UNF Arena floor.

NUMBERS WENT NORTH VS. SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
UNF's numbers in the Ospreys' 3-2 win against  South Dakota State last Saturday were head and shoulders above any other marks from other matches this year ... arguably the biggest note was UNF's 14.5 team blocks, North Florida's most blocks in a single match since going for 16 in a five-set win against North Dakota Sept. 10, 2018 ... the high-volume attacker in Solimar Cestero turned out one of her most proficient days, tallying a season-high 12 kills while not committing an error across 28 attacks ... Amy Burkhardt took advantage of her second-career start and posted a career high 14 kills on 37 attacks, well over her previous career high in both categories ... Maddie Boyd reached 200 blocks last weekend, just the 11th to do so in the program's history, but she saved another eight for SDSU after reaching that milestone, tying her own career single-game high ... Mahalia White wasn't far behind her, going for a career-best seven blocks while leading UNF with 14 kills on .480 hitting ... freshman Kierstyn McFall had an important eight kills, her career high during her young UNF career.