Volleyball Goes West

Friday, August 25

Santa Barbara, Calif.

7 p.m.

University of North Florida

Denver

Negron is one of a handful of Ospreys with California and Big West ties.

Photo by: Brock Borgeson

8/24/2023 9:36:00 PM | Volleyball

Live Stats (Friday)Live Stats (Saturday)Live Stats (Sunday)ESPN+ (Sunday)

Ospreys Open 2023 at UCSB Tournament

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - UNF volleyball travels through four time zones to begin the 2023 season as the Ospreys head to Santa Barbara, Calif., for the Thunderdome Classic to open the 33rd season in the program's history.

North Florida takes on Denver, New Mexico State and host UCSB on the weekend in the program's first of four non-conference regular season tournaments.

UNF opened the trip out west Aug. 22 with a five-set exhibition against the Aztecs of San Diego State, sending 16 Ospreys to the pitch.

MATCH DETAILS

Who | North Florida, Denver, New Mexico State and UCSB
What | Thunderdome Classic (at UCSB)
When | Friday, Aug. 25-Sunday, Aug. 27
Where | Santa Barbara, Calif.

Live Coverage
Live stats will be available Friday and Saturday, with live stats and ESPN+ coverage available Sunday.

Series History

Denver: North Florida and Denver are meeting for the third time … the Ospreys hold the 2-0 all-time series lead … the previous two meetings have been in Colorado … the most recent meeting was in 1995, a 3-1 win for UNF.
New Mexico State: First-ever meeting
UC Santa Barbara: First-ever meeting

SCOUTING REPORT

Denver: Denver was tabbed to finish sixth in the preseason Summit League poll … the Pioneers are under the tutelage of Megan Pendergast in her first season leading Denver … the Pioneers had two preseason all-conference picks in Gianna Bartalo and Cadi Boyer …Denver went 19-12 and 12-6 in league play last year before bowing out of the Summit League Tournament against top-seeded South Dakota.
New Mexico State: New Mexico State swept Western New Mexico in the lone exhibition match of the preseason … New Mexico State is in its first year in Conference USA … the Aggies were tabbed to finish fourth of nine teams in the newly joined league … New Mexico State had a trio of preseason honorees in Mari Sharp, Ryleigh Whitekettle and Starr Williams … New Mexico State went 16-12 and 7-7 in league play a year ago.
UC Santa Barbara: UCSB gets the chance to host the first non-conference tournament of the season on opening weekend … the Gauchos went 20-10 and 16-4 in Big West play last season, earning them a second-place finish in the league … UCSB returns Big West Libero of the Year, Macall Peed, as well as all-conference picks Michelle Ohwobette and Tasia Farmer … UCSB was picked to finish second in the preseason Big West poll.

MATCH 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

Going Back to Cali

Despite being located in Jacksonville, UNF volleyball has quite the Cali contingent
Head coach Kristen Wright is a California native and played and coached in California before arriving in Jacksonville December of 2017. Wright has a 73-75 career record at UNF and also won a beach championship as the head coach of the sand squad in 2021.
On the roster, White, Boyd, Mackenzie Piester and Kelly Negron all have ties to the state. White hails from Canoga Park and also played at a Big West school in UC Davis. Boyd comes from Portola, Calif., while Piester is a Carlsbad, Calif., native.
Negron has faced off against the Gauchos before during her four seasons with UC Irvine. Negron has gone for a double-double in each of her last four matches against UCSB

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.