JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida volleyball takes the trip from the First Coast to the Music City for a single match against the Lipscomb Bisons tomorrow night at 7 p.m. EST. The Ospreys look to continue to flip the script on the all-time series, going for their third win in four tries vs. Lipscomb. 

MATCH DETAILS
Who | UNF and Lipscomb
What | Final match of September
When | Saturday, Sept. 30 at 7 p.m. EST
Where | Nashville, Tenn. | Allen Arena

Live Coverage
Live Stats - Statbroadcast
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Series History

• Lipscomb: UNF dropped its only match against Lipscomb last year … Lipscomb leads the all-time series, 26-5 … the two teams have played each other 26 times as league foes … UNF has won two of its past three matchups against Lipscomb … last year Lipscomb defeated UNF in three sets in Nashville … North Florida is looking for its first win against the Bisons in Nashville since 2006.

SCOUTING REPORT

• Lipscomb: Lipscomb is 8-5 and 3-0 in league play after wins against Central Arkansas, North Alabama and Austin Peay … Lipscomb has won its past four matches, defeating Abilene Christian and Belmont before opening ASUN conference play … head coach Brandon Rosenthal is in his twenty-first season at the helm of the Lipscomb indoor program … Jada DiVita and Meg Mersman lead the Bison with over 100 kills on the year … Sophia Hudepohl directs the offense, posting 9.11 assists/set … Delaney Smith leads the Bison with 3.54 digs/set … the Bisons were tabbed to finish second per the ASUN Preseason Coaches Poll, earning two first place votes … the Bisons are one of four teams to have a preseason honoree … Meg Mersman and Caroline Stogner were named to the ASUN Preseason All-Conference Team.

MATCH NOTES

Milestone Watch

• Rocio Moro continues her ascent up the ASUN record book, needing 47 digs to set the ASUN-career digs record
• 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

River City Victory

• UNF defeated JU, 3-1, winning the first of its two regular season conference matchups with the Dolphins
• The Ospreys notched their first conference victory of the 2023 campaign, and snapped a five game skid
• Jesica Buis provided a career-best three aces for the Ospreys
• Kailey McKnight posted a double-double for the third consecutive match, and her sixth of the season
• Rocio Moro recorded 20 digs, leading the Ospreys in that category for the fifteenth time this season

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
• 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

Anna Begins

• Anna Butler got the start in Saturday's match against FGCU, her first of the season
• The junior posted 15 kills, her first double-digit kill outing since going for a career-best 17 in a 3-2 win against Virginia Tech back in 2021
• She also hit .382 and posted four blocks

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.