JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida volleyball goes for the season sweep and win number 31 in the head-to-head series with River City Rumble rival Jacksonville Wednesday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. at JU.

Wednesday's match marks the end of a five-match road trip as well as the first of at least four-straight matches in the state of Florida.

MATCH DETAILS

• Who | North Florida and Jacksonville
• What | River City Rumble Part 2 for 2023, 39th all-time
• When | Wednesday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m.
• Where | Swisher Gymnasium at Jacksonville

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Last Time Out
KENNESAW, Ga. - North Florida volleyball squared off with rival Kennesaw State for the second time in 2023 with eyes on a season sweep, but the Owls staved that result off as the Ospreys (13-13, 6-6 ASUN) fell on the road at KSU (14-9, 7-5 ASUN), 3-0, Sunday, Oct. 29. 

Series History
North Florida and Jacksonville are meeting for the 49th time … North Florida and JU are playing their 36th match against one another in league regular season play … the Ospreys pace the head-to-head series, 30-18 … North Florida has dominated the series in recent history and especially under head coach Kristen Wright … UNF is 12-1 against JU under head coach Kristen Wright … since Sept. 25, 2018 and Nov. 4, 2022, North Florida has won 10 straight … the Ospreys are 11-11 all-time at JU and have gone 5-1 in the last six at JU.

Scouting Report
JU is 8-16 overall and 5-7 in league play ... the Dolphins are markedly different on home vs. on the road, touting a 5-2 mark in home games and a 2-10 record on the road ... JU is sitting one game behind North Florida in the league standings ... JU's conference wins have come against Queens (twice), Kennesaw State, Central Arkansas and Eastern Kentucky ... Wednesday marks JU's first home game since Oct. 14 against EKU ... Jacksonville is paced by Anna Erickson's 2.99 kills/set and 266 kills on the season ... the Dolphins have tallied 1,105 kills to just 1,104 kills from their opponents ... the statistical similarities continue as JU and its foes have posted 143 aces respectively ... Kristina Nika has been JU's top performer defensively, posting 336 digs at 3.78 digs/set 

MATCH NOTES

Offense as Usual

• Additionally, UNF is second in the league in aces after going for matches of 12, 12 and 14 over the last six contests.
• 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.
• UNF is first in the league in assists, digs, kills and total attacks

Watching History Osprey Fans

• Rocio Moro is knocking on the door of yet another UNF record, reaching 141 total matches played, tied with Solimar Cestero for the program record.
• Two of the last three matches have seen her posting at least 35 digs. All told, she's gone for at least 30 digs
• 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

ASUN Standings

• UNF is in the thick of the push for ASUN postseason play
• The Ospreys are currently tied for sixth in the conference, with the top eight teams making postseason conference play
• The Ospreys have four matches remaining and have a one-game lead on ninth-place Jacksonville
• North Florida has posted a winning conference season in three-straight years, a DI era record

More Notes

• UNF is coming off a 6-3 month of October, North Florida's best month record wise
• North Florida is playing its first match on a Wednesday all season
• UNF is 12-1 when posting a better hitting percentage than its foes and 1-12 when its foes have a better mark
• North Florida is 9-3 when pacing the match in aces
• The Ospreys are 12-5 when winning the first set
• UNF is 6-0 when claiming the fourth set
• UNF's middles were big last weekend. Maddie Boyd set a career high with 15 kills at Queens while Kierstyn McFall hit a career-best .800 Sunday at KSU
• UNF's experience runs through its total sets played tracker for each student-athlete. Seven Ospreys have played at least 200 sets in the Navy and Gray, not including transfers
• 12 Ospreys have paced or tied for the team-best mark for aces in a match this season

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.