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.