JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida volleyball starts a five-match road trip that will close out the month of October as the Ospreys go to North Alabama Friday and Central Arkansas Sunday.

MATCH DETAILS
Who | UNF volleyball at UNA, UCA
What | Beginning Four Match Road Trip
When | Friday, Oct. 20 and Sunday, Oct. 22
Where | Florence, Ala. & Conway, Ark.

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Last Time Out
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida volleyball (11-11, 4-4 ASUN) had a 14-point advantage at the service line while posting 12 aces for the second night in a row, but the visiting Bellarmine Knights (8-12, 6-2 ASUN) had the advantage on the attack as UNF came up just short in a two-hour and 30-minute five-setter against Bellarmine Saturday, Oct. 14.

Series History

• UNA: UNF aims to stay perfect against UNA, having gone 6-0 against the Lions … the two teams first met in 2018 … North Florida has played at UNA twice, earning a pair of 3-2 wins in both of those contests … UNF is 3-0 against UNA in five set matches, 2-0 in 3-1 decisions and earned one sweep … North Florida's last trip to Florence, Ala., was Nov. 17, 2019.
• UCA: UNF and UCA are meeting for the fourth time … North Florida is looking to even the all-time series … it'll be the first-ever meeting between UNF and UCA after having played at JU against one another last year, in Jacksonville, Ala., at the ASUN Crossover in 2021 and in Spartanburg, S.C., in 2008 … UCA narrowly earned a 3-2 win against North Florida last year.

Scouting Report

• UNA: North Alabama is 11-9 and 3-5 in conference play … the Lions swept Queens Sunday, Oct. 15, although prior to that the Lions had lost five-straight matches … during that stretch, UNA fell to Kennesaw State, Stetson, Bellarmine, EKU and Lipscomb … UNA's league wins have come against Austin Peay, UCA and Queens … Anna Katherine Griggs returns as the steady grad student that has paced the Lions for a number of years … she has a team-best 215 kills at 2.79 kills/set … Kennedey Johnson and Elif Ozsoy run the offense at the setter position, with Johnson posting 438 assists … Luana Bulara has tallied 121 digs at 5.04 digs/set in league play … outside hitter Avery Markham has twice been named ASUN Freshman of the Week this year.
• UCA: Central Arkansas has yet to find an ASUN win through eight league matches this season … the Bears are 6-14 overall and on a seven-match losing streak … offenses are hitting .240 off the Bears, with UCA posting a .196 attack percentage … Laci Bohannan's 3.03 kills/set is good for a team best … she got off to a hot start last year before a season-ending injury cut her year short … head coach John Newberry is in his seventh year at UCA.

MATCH NOTES

Offense as Usual

• UNF's high powered offenses under head coach Kristen Wright have continued once again in 2023. 
• North Florida ranks first in the league in assists, total attacks and total kills. Those marks are also good for 12th, 16th and 42nd in the country respectively.

Watching History Osprey Fans

• Rocio Moro has blessed Osprey fans with a historical career through her 137 matches played.
• Oct. 6 she set the ASUN career digs record and last weekend she set the UNF career sets played mark.
• Two weeks ago she earned her 11th-career ASUN Defensive Player of the Week honor, which also stands as a league record
• She needs five more matches played to surpass Cestero for first all-time in matches played.

Aces High

• North Florida tallied 12 aces in consecutive matches last week against EKU and Bellarmine respectively
• That mark tied the season high
• Kailey McKnight posted a staggering seven aces last Saturday vs. Bellarmine, good for the most by a UNF student-athlete since Kaley Read in 2007.

PRESEASON NOTES

Preseason Picks

• UNF made some noise in the preseason conference rankings and all-league team
• Mahalia White and Rocio Moro were both league superlative award honorees, with Moro being named ASUN Preseason Defensive Player of the Year for the third-straight time, while Mahalia White was named ASUN Preseason Player of the Year.
• Moro is the three-time reigning ASUN Defensive Player of the Year, the only student-athlete to have earned that honor three times in the history of the league
• White was named to the ASUN Second Team a year ago after pacing the league in points/set and kills/set

Hungry and Experienced

• North Florida brings back significant numbers from last year's team that finished 9-7 in league play
• Headlining that group is Moro and White, along with starters in 2022 ASUN All-Freshman pick Kierstyn McFall, Maddie Boyd, Kailey McKnight
• North Florida returns 85.5 percent of its sets played for 2022

Highest of Honors

• Graduate student Mahalia White received one of the highest honors in all of collegiate sports this past summer
• White joined the nation's best female student-athletes in Los Angeles for the Collegiate Women's Sports Award (CWSA) Honda Cup ceremonies
• She was selected by the CWSA as the Honda Inspiration Cup award winner, an honor given to a female student-athlete in any of the NCAA Divisions that has overcome an extraordinary trial during their respective careers before overcoming and returning to success
• White defeated Hodgkin's Lymphoma and a torn ACL during her collegiate playing career before returning to the court and putting up all-league honors last year

Noting the Newcomers

• UNF's roster features 19 total and six newcomers
• Just two of UNF's newcomers are true freshmen, as Emma Pohlmann suits up in the Navy and Gray after arriving by way of Birmingham, Ala. Francis-Garay competed for her native country of Puerto Rico this summer before joining the Ospreys in mid-August
• Morgan Wilson (Towson), Rylee Moorhead (Presbyterian), Negron (UC Irvine) and Kyla Solis (Clemson), all bring extensive experience in the DI ranks.