JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - After playing on the road for the last two weekends of ASUN play, North Florida volleyball gets the chance to start a four-match home stand, beginning with Kennesaw State Friday and Queens Saturday evening.

MATCH DETAILS

• Who | Kennesaw State & Queens
• What | Matches 19 and 20
• When | October 6 and 7, 2023
• Where | UNF Arena, Jacksonville, Fla

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Last Time Out
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - UNF volleyball put a one-set deficit in the rear view and followed up with four Ospreys touting double-digit kill nights as UNF (8-10) knocked off Florida A&M (7-10), 3-1, in the regular season non-conference finale Tuesday, Oct. 3. 

Series History

• Kennesaw State: UNF and Kennesaw State are meeting for the 28th time … North Florida is looking to improve to 3-1 in its last four home matches against the Owls … North Florida took care of KSU in five frames last year during a neutral site match at Jacksonville … That was the lone match between the two teams last year … Mahalia White had a monster match during that win, going off for 26 kills … Kailey McKnight also had a big day, going for 13 kills and 17 digs in a late-night contest that started at 8:05 p.m. … Moro became the first-ever member of the 2,000-digs club during that win against Kennesaw State.
• Queens: UNF and Queens are meeting for the second time and for the first time at the UNF Arena … 2023 marks the second season with Queens as a member of the ASUN Conference … Last year North Florida swept the Royals as Rocio Moro set the UNF career digs record North Florida won the first set, 27-25, before posting more convincing results in sets two and three … White was dominant, posting 19 kills on .500 hitting … McKnight also went for a double-double with 15 kills and 11 digs.

SCOUTING REPORT

• Kennesaw State: The Owls are 8-6 heading into this weekend's slate of matches ... KSU is coming off a 3-2 loss against FGCU, sending Kennesaw State to a 1-2 mark after two weekends of league play ... Kennesaw State has two Power Five wins this season, winning in five against both Wake Forest and Mississippi State ... all three of Kennesaw State's league matches have gone to five frames so far this season.
• Queens: Queens comes into the weekend 3-12 and 0-3 in conference competition ... the Royals enter on a four-match losing streak, while also coming in with a 0-4 record on the road ... Queens lost to like-foe, USC Upstate, 3-1, to open the season ... Queens' lone wins have come against Stonehill, NIU and Duquesne ... Jordyn Johnson is heading into play with 150 kills on the season ... four Royals players have posted at least 155 digs this year, paced by Jesse George at 250.

MATCH NOTES
Milestone Watch

• Rocio Moro continues her ascent up the ASUN record book, needing three digs to set the ASUN-career digs record
• The libero just reached 500 sets played for her career Saturday. She only needs 16 assists and four aces to reach 500 and 100 respectively
• The libero needs 9 more matches played and 7 sets played to set the record for both of those categories in UNF history
• Kailey McKnight and Maddie Boyd were the most recent additions to the 500-career kills club, having reached that milestone earlier this year
• Boyd also became just the fourth Osprey in program history to surpass 300-career blocks
• Annie Antar became the 10th Osprey in UNF's DI era to surpass 1,000-career assists

Marathon Weekend

• UNF engaged in two of the longest matches in recent history, having played in a three-hour and six minute match at Stetson Friday, Sept. 22 and nearly a two-hour and 50-minute contest at FGCU the following day.
• North Florida put up 200 total attacks against Stetson and 171 at FGCU
• Some massive and career performances came forth last weekend. Rocio Moro posted a 32-dig night against Stetson, the sixth time she reached that marker
• Janelly Ceopa made consecutive starts and eyed a double-double in each match
• Kierstyn McFall tied a career high with 18 kills at Stetson
• North Florida had two setters with double-doubles in the match against Stetson, with Kelly Negron and Antar doing so

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.