Featured Image: Khorri Newton

Mark your calendars, set your alarms and put on your finest face coverings because more sports are about to return to campus in January. While basketball has led the athletic schedule for the latter parts of 2020, the new year brings the return of swimming, tennis, cross country, and golf.

As we countdown the days until we can finally see our talented Ospreys in action, they won’t all return simultaneously as the schedules are much different from in year’s past. While soccer and volleyball are usually played before the spring, that is not the case this semester.

The first sport to return in 2021 will be the Osprey swim team. They will play their only home meet of the season this Saturday, Jan. 16, against FGCU. The Ospreys will then embark on a treacherous journey to UF to take on the Gators on Jan. 20th, and their shortened season will conclude in the middle of February.

Next in line, the tennis teams will return next week, with our men’s team starting their season with a road matchup against Florida State on Sunday, Jan. 17. The women’s team will begin just a few days later, on Jan. 22, against Flagler in their first home tennis match since March of 2020. 

Our women’s team is ranked first in the ASUN preseason poll and is coming off a 10-1 shortened 2020 season. The men’s team is coming off a season where they finished ranked 62 in the country and went 8-2. There is so much to look forward to as the teams return to the court.

The same day the women’s tennis team takes the court for the first time will also be the same day our Osprey volleyball team takes the court. The team is set to head down to sunny Tampa, Florida, for a two-game series against USF to start their season.

Men’s and women’s cross country is set to return in January, and both teams will head to South Carolina to compete in the Charleston Southern Invitational. While all cross country meets will be on the road, the teams have been training and preparing since march to return to action.

Lastly, the UNF men’s golf team will be the last team to start their season in January as Coach Schroeder, and the guys will start their season on Jan. 25 in the Timaquana Collegiate co-hosted by North Florida and Jacksonville at Timaquana Country Club. The team had an eventful offseason as they landed former SEC freshman of the year and Auburn University standout Brandon Mancheno.

Sports such as softball, soccer and women’s golf will return in February. 

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