DELAND, Fla. – Stetson Volleyball will begin ASUN Conference play with a pair of matches in Jacksonville, Florida, first with Jacksonville and closing out the weekend with North Florida. Both matches will have video live streaming, links in this article and the schedule page.

"We still need to improve," head coach Yang Deng said "We have many young players that lack experience but they will have some playing time. We have to make sure after every game we are learning from something. For us, if we play our game, the ball control we have makes it not too much about others, but more about us."

Jacksonville stumbled out of the gate, dropping its first three matches, but bounced back with wins in four of the last six games. Most recently, the Dolphins played three at the Trojan Invitational, in Troy, Alabama, with all three matches going five sets; JU took wins in the first and last match. Following the effort, senior libero Kariana Ayala-Drew was named ASUN Defensive Player of the Week Monday. Historically, the series is lop-sided to JU, but recently Stetson has won six of the last seven meetings, with the lone loss going five sets.

The Hatters close the weekend with North Florida. The Ospreys had a tough start to the season and now sit at a 2-9 overall record entering the first week of conference play; however, one of the two wins was the last time UNF took the court, defeating South Dakota State in five sets as part of the Hawkeye Invitational. Like the previously mentioned series with JU, the lifetime series between the Ospreys and Hatters lean heavily to North Florida, but looking recently and the teams have been close to equal with Stetson taking six of the last 11 meetings, but UNF taking the most recent four.

"[We have] A lot of young players are on the court and this preseason made it possible for them to get experience to be ready for the [conference] season," senior outside hitter Elena Djokovic said "We are going in ready for them, especially UNF. They have got better and the stronger the opponent, the better it is for us. We're very excited [for this weekend]."
 
About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program is driven by a shared purpose. It is what inspires, motivates and binds us together. More than a task, a reason for being. THE HATTER PURPOSE is to create and provide an experience of a lifetime through teamwork and relationships to achieve excellence. This purpose is achieved through five Core Values: Communication, Integrity, Excellence, Value People and Commitment. To learn more about the HATS program and our Core Values, visit GoHatters.com/HATS (PDF). Get in on the conversation on social media by following Stetson Athletics on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For video content, visit our YouTube channels: Stetson Hatters, Stetson Athletics and, for live events, Hatter Vision.