Friday, October 21
Jacksonville, FL
11 A.M.
Jacksonville State University
vs
%20(1).png&width=60&height=60&type=webp)
North Florida
Volleyball Florida-Bound for ASUN Road Trip
10/20/2022 12:49:00 PM | Volleyball
JACKSONVILLE – Gamecock volleyball (18-3, 6-2) will travel to the other Jacksonville in the ASUN Conference for a pair of league showdowns this weekend. Jacksonville State will play against North Florida (6-13, 4-4) in Jacksonville, Fla., at 11 a.m. CT Friday morning before meeting Jacksonville University (8-12, 2-6) at 4 p.m. CT on Saturday afternoon.
"I just want to see us go out and compete hard, be focused, play with a lot of energy and not look ahead, focus on one point at a time." JSU head coach Todd Garvey said ahead of this weekend's road trip. "Do that, match-by-match, and hopefully we can come home with two wins after the weekend's over with."
JSU will try to extend their conference winning streak after a strong weekend at The Pete. Garvey's squad held off a feisty Eastern Kentucky team in five sets on Friday night and swept former Gamecock head coach Rick Nold's Bellarmine Knights on Saturday at Pete Mathews Coliseum. Now, Jacksonville State hits the road for the second time in league play in search of two more impressive victories.
North Florida played a brutal non-conference slate, in which they took on RPI Top-50 opponents Florida (11), Auburn (39), and Northern Iowa (43), and jumped into ASUN play with a five-set upset of defending champion FGCU. The Ospreys have also beaten Austin Peay, North Alabama, and Queens, and pose a tough test for the Gamecocks in Friday's showdown. UNF is led by outside hitter Mahalia White, who is third in the ASUN in kills per set (3.95) and points per set (4.33), and junior libero Rocio Moro, a Preseason All-ASUN with the second most digs per set (4.72) in the league.
"They have a good team as always, well-coached, and a lot of good players," Garvey said of the Ospreys. "They played a very tough non-conference schedule, but I think they're a team that can go out and obviously play at a high level, beating Florida Gulf Coast earlier this year. We know we're going to have our work cut out for us then."
Jacksonville has lost four straight conference matches entering Friday's contest with league-leading Kennesaw State. The Dolphins swept Stetson to start the ASUN schedule and shocked Lipscomb on the road on Oct. 1 but are coming off a loss at Queens last weekend that resulted in the Royals' first ASUN win. Middle blocker Haley Hart, who is top-ten in the conference in hitting percentage (.355, 4th), points per set (4.15, 4th), and kills per set (3.28, 7th) and libero Kariana Ayala-Drew, the league's leader in digs (344) and digs per set (5.06), are the most productive players thus far for Jacksonville.
"(Jacksonville is) night-and-day better than they were last year," Garvey said. "They added a couple grad transfers and a couple other new players that I think have really taken their team to a new level. They have two really good middles that they use a lot, so that's going to be one of the keys, is us trying to limit their swings on the ball and hopefully defend them well when they do get set."
JSU has losing records all-time versus both opponents they will face this weekend. UNF is 2-0 against the Gamecocks after sweeping Jax State in 1993 and taking a five-set heartbreaker in last season's ASUN Crossover. JU racked up seven consecutive wins against Jacksonville State from 1979-2002, but JSU swept the previous two meetings in 2006 and 2021.
Due to ongoing construction at UNF Arena, both of this weekend's matches will be played at Jacksonville's Swisher Gymnasium. Those matches will be broadcast on YouTube for free. Links to watch the match or to follow along with LiveStats will be provided at JSUGamecockSports.com. Additionally, score updates will be posted on JSU Volleyball's Twitter account (@JSUGamecockVB).
To stay up-to-date with the Gamecocks, be sure to follow their Facebook (Jacksonville State Volleyball), Twitter, and Instagram (@JSUGamecockVB) accounts.
"I just want to see us go out and compete hard, be focused, play with a lot of energy and not look ahead, focus on one point at a time." JSU head coach Todd Garvey said ahead of this weekend's road trip. "Do that, match-by-match, and hopefully we can come home with two wins after the weekend's over with."
JSU will try to extend their conference winning streak after a strong weekend at The Pete. Garvey's squad held off a feisty Eastern Kentucky team in five sets on Friday night and swept former Gamecock head coach Rick Nold's Bellarmine Knights on Saturday at Pete Mathews Coliseum. Now, Jacksonville State hits the road for the second time in league play in search of two more impressive victories.
North Florida played a brutal non-conference slate, in which they took on RPI Top-50 opponents Florida (11), Auburn (39), and Northern Iowa (43), and jumped into ASUN play with a five-set upset of defending champion FGCU. The Ospreys have also beaten Austin Peay, North Alabama, and Queens, and pose a tough test for the Gamecocks in Friday's showdown. UNF is led by outside hitter Mahalia White, who is third in the ASUN in kills per set (3.95) and points per set (4.33), and junior libero Rocio Moro, a Preseason All-ASUN with the second most digs per set (4.72) in the league.
"They have a good team as always, well-coached, and a lot of good players," Garvey said of the Ospreys. "They played a very tough non-conference schedule, but I think they're a team that can go out and obviously play at a high level, beating Florida Gulf Coast earlier this year. We know we're going to have our work cut out for us then."
Jacksonville has lost four straight conference matches entering Friday's contest with league-leading Kennesaw State. The Dolphins swept Stetson to start the ASUN schedule and shocked Lipscomb on the road on Oct. 1 but are coming off a loss at Queens last weekend that resulted in the Royals' first ASUN win. Middle blocker Haley Hart, who is top-ten in the conference in hitting percentage (.355, 4th), points per set (4.15, 4th), and kills per set (3.28, 7th) and libero Kariana Ayala-Drew, the league's leader in digs (344) and digs per set (5.06), are the most productive players thus far for Jacksonville.
"(Jacksonville is) night-and-day better than they were last year," Garvey said. "They added a couple grad transfers and a couple other new players that I think have really taken their team to a new level. They have two really good middles that they use a lot, so that's going to be one of the keys, is us trying to limit their swings on the ball and hopefully defend them well when they do get set."
JSU has losing records all-time versus both opponents they will face this weekend. UNF is 2-0 against the Gamecocks after sweeping Jax State in 1993 and taking a five-set heartbreaker in last season's ASUN Crossover. JU racked up seven consecutive wins against Jacksonville State from 1979-2002, but JSU swept the previous two meetings in 2006 and 2021.
Due to ongoing construction at UNF Arena, both of this weekend's matches will be played at Jacksonville's Swisher Gymnasium. Those matches will be broadcast on YouTube for free. Links to watch the match or to follow along with LiveStats will be provided at JSUGamecockSports.com. Additionally, score updates will be posted on JSU Volleyball's Twitter account (@JSUGamecockVB).
To stay up-to-date with the Gamecocks, be sure to follow their Facebook (Jacksonville State Volleyball), Twitter, and Instagram (@JSUGamecockVB) accounts.
%20(1).png&width=84&height=84&quality=100&type=webp)
Friday, November 07
Friday, November 07
Saturday, October 25
Saturday, October 25
