Starting Home Stand Against Austin Peay

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - UNF volleyball turns its attention to its first home match since Oct. 14 when the Ospreys host Austin Peay Saturday, Nov. 4 at 6 p.m. for Alumni Night and a chance to clinch a spot in ASUN postseason play.

North Florida needs one win or one Jacksonville loss the rest of the way to clinch a spot in the ASUN postseason. The Ospreys stand at 14-13 and 7-6 in league play with all three remaining matches being held at home.

MATCH DETAILS

Who | North Florida vs. Austin Peay
What | First match of a three-game home stand
When | Saturday, Nov. 4 at 6 p.m.
Where | UNF Arena

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Last Time Out
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida volleyball (14-13, 7-6 ASUN) neutralized three-straight Jacksonville set points to come back and win the first set, carrying that momentum into a River City Rumble road sweep at JU (8-17, 5-8 ASUN) Wednesday, Nov. 1 at Swisher Gymnasium.

Series History
North Florida has won the only meeting between the Ospreys and Governors with a 3-1 win against APSU last October … this will be the first-ever meeting between the two teams at home … the Ospreys roared back to win in four after dropping the first in that match.

Scouting Report

Austin Peay has lost four-straight matches
The Governors last road win came Sept. 24 at Central Arkansas
All told, APSU is 10-16 and 3-10 in league play
Mikayla Powell is crucial for Austin Peay, having tallied 16-straight double-digit kill performances from Sept. 1-Oct. 7. She has been out since then after suffering an injury
Head coach Taylor Mott is in season 12, having tallied over 500-career wins at the college level. She started her career at Flagler College, winning over 300 matches with the Saints.
Austin Peay blocks well, having averaged over two blocks per set this season

MATCH NOTES

River City Dominance

UNF has won 13 of the last 14 matches against Jacksonville
Mahalia White went off for 14 kills .385 hitting percentage to lead the way

Offense as Usual

UNF's high powered offenses under head coach Kristen Wright have continued once again in 2023.
Additionally, UNF is second in the league in aces after going for matches of 12, 12 and 14 over the last seven matches.
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 set another record Wednesday, reaching 142 matches played to set a 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 in sixth, with the top eight teams making postseason conference play
North Florida has posted a winning conference season in three-straight years, a DI era record

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.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Maddie Boyd

Kierstyn McFall

Kailey McKnight

Rylee Moorhead

Rocio Moro

Emma Pohlmann

Kyla Solis

Mahalia White

Morgan Wilson

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