JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - After a brief stint in Jacksonville, UNF leaves the city once again for a two-match ASUN road swing in Tennessee as North Florida volleyball plays at Lipscomb tomorrow and Austin Peay, Saturday. 

MATCH NOTES

SERIES HISTORY
Lipscomb: UNF and Lipscomb have a long history that features 30 matches against one another ... the Bisons have won the majority of those 30 matches, all of which have come since UNF entered the ASUN Conference in 2005 ... UNF is coming off a historical year against Lipscomb ... after having never defeated Lipscomb more than once in a season, UNF turned in a pair of 3-1 wins against the Bisons a year ago ... UNF defeated Lipscomb in the final match of the ASUN Crossover a year ago ... North Florida followed that up with a 3-1 win in the ASUN Championship Quarterfinals Nov. 18 of last season ... prior to those matches, Lipscomb had won 17-straight matches. 
Austin Peay: Saturday marks the first-ever meeting between UNF and Austin Peay ... this will also be the first ASUN meeting between the two teams ... Austin Peay is coming out of the Ohio Valley Conference.

SCOUTING REPORT
Lipscomb: Lipscomb is 5-8 and 2-0 in league play ... like the Ospreys, the Bisons have played a tough non-conference slate, having faced three teams receiving votes (UCF, Ball State, Mississippi State), as well as three more Power Five teams, two of which are ranked in Kansas (23), Louisville (4) and Oklahoma (unranked) ... Lipscomb is coached by Brandon Rosenthal, a LU mainstay who has logged 350 wins in 20 seasons at Lipscomb ... outside hitter Jada DiVita was named ASUN Freshman of the Week last week ... Divita also paces the team in kills ... Sophia Hudepohl has assumed the role as setter after Delaney Dilfer transferred to Liberty ... Delaney Smith has a team-best 17 aces, leading a team that has dropped in 16 more than its opponents ... Meg Mersman is a veteran presence on the team and leads the squad with 39 blocks ... Lipscomb defeated EKU and Bellarmine last weekend.
Austin Peay: The Governors are embarking on their first-ever ASUN home matches as first-year members to the league after departing from the Ohio Valley Conference ... APU is coming off a 21-12 year last year ... thus far, Austin Peay has gone 8-5 and 1-1 in league play, including 3-0 at home ... APU squeaked by Florida A&M Sept. 2 and dropped a four-set match to the Seminoles at Florida State a day later ... EKU swept the Governors in their last ASUN contest ... Taylor Mott leads Austin Peay in her 11th season as head coach ... the veteran head coach knows the First Coast, having coached at Flagler for over a decade prior to making the move to Clarksville ... APU has dispersed its offense predominantly among five options, three of which have over 100 kills in Mikayla Powell, Marlayna Bullington and Jaida Clark ... APU has two primary setters in Kelsey Mead and Janvier Buggs ... Mead has 328 assists on the season.


AN OSPREY WIN WOULD…
vs. Lipscomb: Give UNF three-straight wins against Lipscomb for the first time in series history ... give North Florida its first win in Nashville since 2006.
vs. Austin Peay: Make UNF 1-0 against Austin Peay.

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 (447) last weekend, while reaching 125 matches played in Iowa. She is 12 matches away from breaking former teammate Gabby O'Connell's UNF DI-era match played record.

Cestero surpassed 1,100-career kills last weekend. She is ninth all-time in UNF history and fourth in the program's Division I era.

MAYMIE BACK HOME
Maymie Guthrie is returning to her home state this weekend for a pair of matches in the Volunteer State. The freshman defensive specialist hails out of Nolensville, Tenn., where she attended Nolensville HS.

LIFE ON THE ROAD
Due to the ongoing renovations to the UNF Arena, North Florida volleyball has not played a true home game this season. The Ospreys have only played two matches in the city of Jacksonville, both of which were considered home matches for UNF in the box score but were essentially neutral site matches. North Florida took down FGCU and came up short against Stetson at JU's Swisher Gymnasium last weekend.

BURKHARDT'S BEST
Amy Burkhardt was critical in UNF's two five-set wins this season. The sophomore outside hitter went for 13 kills in both of those matches, good for a career high and the first time she's reached double-digit kills. She hit .417 in her effort against the FGCU Eagles and also added three blocks against South Dakota State. She followed those matches up with 11 digs in Saturday's match against Stetson.

WHAT'S NEW
All 15 of UNF's active roster members have earned time this season. Of that group, eight of those Ospreys are true freshmen or transfers earning their first action in the Navy and Gray.

MAHALIA MAKES HER MARK
Graduate transfer Mahalia White has been a dominant force this season. The transfer from UC Davis and former Big West Freshman of the Year leads the league in kills/set with 4.04, good for 37th in the nation. She racked up a pair of all-tournament honors during the non-conference ledger, including recognition at the Gators Invite and Hawkeye Invitational. Last weekend she put up 44 kills in just two matches, including a 20-kill outing in a five-set win against FGCU. She followed that up with 22 kills and .319 hitting in four frames against Stetson Sept. 24. 

Mahalia's 20-kill outing against FGCU Sept. 23 was the first time a UNF player has reached 20 kills in a match since another graduate transfer, ASUN First Team honoree, Dariana Hollingsworth-Santana, did so Sept. 24, 2021 of last year.

FLOURISHING IN FIVE SETS 
UNF is 2-0 in five set matches this season, two of which have come in the last three matches. UNF took down FGCU in five frames and South Dakota State Sept. 17 in the same number of sets.

MCKNIGHT EXPANDS HER GAME 
Known primarily as an explosive outside hitter and offensive threat, Kailey McKnight has blossomed defensively this year. The Port St. Lucie, Fla., native is averaging 2.2 digs/set this season, nearly 2.00 digs greater than her mark from last year. She set her career high for digs in a match with 16 against FGCU Sept. 23. Four times she's reached double-figure digs and Sept. 9 against Troy she posted her first-career double-double with 15 digs and 12 kills. McKnight is five kills shy of 300 for her career and is four digs shy of tying her single-season highwater mark for kills.