Volleyball begins Friday with West Georgia playing two home games

FLORENCE, Alabama (October 24, 2024) – The University of North Alabama volleyball team begins a six-game homestand this weekend, welcoming West Georgia and Queens to CB&S Bank Arena at Flowers Hall this Friday and Sunday.

UNA returns home after four straight road games and picked up two wins on trips to Tennessee and Florida. The Lions picked up wins against Austin Peay and Stetson, and despite having no home-field advantage, North Alabama earned new Division I marks in three of the four road games.

Freshmen Reese Ricketts had two 22-kill performances at Lipscomb and Austin Peay, which was the highest in UNA’s Division I era at the time. Graduation a week later Jasmine Brooks set the Division I program record with 23 kills against Stetson, the most of his career.

Before Brooks, UNA had not had a player with 23 or more kills since 2017, when former standout Lexie Bradley posted a rare 34 kills against UAH. This was just two shy of the record of 36 kills set by Yana Ninova in 2003.

North Alabama is looking for its second 2-0 weekend in Florence and will look to maintain its winning streak to cement its spot in the ASUN Volleyball Championships a month away. Eight games remain before the postseason tournament.

The Lions take on the Atlantic Sun Conference’s newest member the Wolves on Friday, October 25 at 6 p.m. UNA follows with its matchup against the Royals on Sunday, October 27 at 1 p.m

Friday’s game against West Georgia will also be North Alabama’s annual “Dig Pink” game, where fans are encouraged to wear pink in support of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

The games will be available to stream on ESPN+ and live stats will be provided courtesy of StatBroadcast. Complete results and a summary will be posted after each game on RoarLions.com, but fans can follow along in real time on UNA Volleyball’s social media pages.

Parking near the Hal Self Athletic Annex is limited due to construction of Bank Independent Stadium. Violators will be towed if parked on site. Fans are asked to park in the parking lots below the arena along Circular Road and North Pine Street.

Limited handicapped parking is also available in front of the CB&S Bank Arena annex and ticket office.

GAME 1
North Alabama vs. West Georgia
Friday, October 25, 2024
6 p.m
View | Live Stats | Tickets | Twitter

GAME 2
North Alabama vs. Queens
Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024
1 p.m
View | Live Stats | Tickets | Twitter

NOTES

LAST TIME: The Lions went 1-1 in away games against FCGU and Stetson and picked up a 3-1 road win over the Hatters on October 20th. UNA picked up a set against the Eagles on Oct. 18 but lost in four sets to FGCU.

BROOKS BREAKS THE RECORD: Brooks finished his career with 23 kills against Stetson, setting North Alabama’s Division I program record for kills in a game. After tying the then-program record on September 21 against Little Rock, Brooks was finally able to set a new career record. It was the second time in four games that the record was set with a freshman Reese Ricketts set the program record with 22 at Lipscomb and tied the Austin Peay record last week.

A TEAM PERFORMANCE: North Alabama as a team ranks in the top three of the four ASUN statistical categories and is among the best ASUN teams in opponent scoring percentage, opponent blocks, opponent service aces and digs. The Lions rank second in opponent hitting percentage (.192 hitting percentage), opponent blocks (1.81 per set) and opponent service aces (1.19 per set), while they are second in digs (16, 11 per set) are in third place.

LIONS LEADERBOARD: Five individual Lions are also ranked in the ASUN top 10 in their respective categories. Ricketts is fifth in kills with 297 kills and an average of 3.67 kills/set and sixth in points with an average of 4.01 per set. Ricketts also has the second-most kills in the top 10 Audrey Small She ranks sixth in the ASUN with an average of 4.35 digs/set and is third in the top 10 with 352 digs. Small’s totals also rank her in the top 50 nationally, with the freshman ranked third in the top 10 Ranked 36th. Second semester Olivia Fenoff ranks fourth in the ASUN with 32 aces and an average of 0.40 aces per set. Fenoff’s totals propelled her into the national rankings, with the outside hitter ranking 41st nationally among serving aces. senior Elif Ozsoy is eighth in the conference with 634 assists and a 7.83 sets average while a sophomore Nicole Sargent rounds out the leaderboard with 73 blocks and an average of 0.90 blocks – good for 10th place in the ASUN.

AMONG THE BEST: North Alabama’s defense is one of the best in the country, with the Lions ranked in the top 25 across divisions in the NCAA. As of October 21, the Lions are ranked 22nd in the nation with 1,305 players on the season.

MILESTONE WATCH: North Alabama has several players who either exceeded or are nearing their career goals this season. Ozsoy surpassed the 1,000-assist mark on Sept. 6 against UT Martin, with the senior reaching her 1,500 on Oct. 20 against Stetson. Received career assistance. Tietz and Sargent secured their 100th career blocks earlier this season, with Tietz accomplishing the feat at UT Martin and Sargent at Stetson. senior Katy Floyd recorded her 100th career service ace against Bellarmine on October 6. Brooks and Tietz are approaching the 500-kill career mark with a total of 493 and 471 kills, respectively. Brooks is also approaching 100 career blocks with 87 for her career.

SCOUTING THE LIONS: UNA has been victorious in seven of its last ten games. In the current span, North Alabama has had the more efficient offense with an attack percentage of .227 compared to its opponents’ .199. The Lions excelled from the service line, leading 72 to 55 from opponents and having strong net defense with 84 blocks (79.5 from opponents).

SCOUTING WEST GEORGIA: The Wolves come to Florence with a record of 9-11 and a record of 2-6 in the conference standings. They missed two home games on October 18th and 20th, losing 3-1 to Bellarmine and losing 3-0 to EKU. One of UWG’s strengths is the service line, with the Wolves second in the conference with an average of 1.85 per set. West Georgia has three players in the top ten in service aces in Victoria Schmer (seventh/.37 per set), Ashley Barnes (ninth/.35 per set) and Desha Van Veldhuizen (tenth/.34 per set). The Wolves are coached by Kara Hellmann.

HISTORY OF THE SERIES: North Alabama and West Georgia face off in the 85th meeting, the first since 2017 – UNA’s final year in Division II. The Lions lead the series 68-16 and have won the last seven meetings since 2014.

SCOUTING QUEENS: Queens enters the weekend at 6-13 overall, with a record of 3-5 in the ASUN. In their last outing, the Royals split a two-game weekend in Charlotte and earned a 3-0 win over Bellarmine on Oct. 20. The Queens play Central Arkansas on Oct. 25 as part of a two-game road trip before facing the Lions. The team’s backline defense leads the conference with 17.71 digs per set and 1,240 total on the season. Tilley Collins plays a key role on defense and has the eighth-most digs, averaging 3.55 per set. The Royals are led by Hannah Long.

HISTORY OF THE SERIES: The Lions face the Royals in their fourth all-time meeting, with UNA leading the series 3-0.

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