Nov. 5, 2005
Box Score
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The North Florida volleyball team came into the final weekend of Atlantic Sun Conference play wanting to climb the ladder in the A-Sun standings. Mission Accomplished.
The Lady Ospreys defeated Lipscomb on Friday night and then capped the weekend with a 3-1 win over Belmont at UNF Arena on Saturday afternoon (23-30, 30-16, 30-25, 30-27), securing sole possession of third place to conclude their first season of A-Sun membership.
Emily Kohler led four UNF players with double figures in kills, tallying 13 with seven blocks to help the Lady Ospreys rally from a one-game hole. UNF (16-9, 7-2 A-Sun) hit .221 for the match and tallied 15 aces and 13 team blocks to win for the 13th time in their last 16 matches.
Belmont (19-14, 6-3 A-Sun) hit .194 and committed 29 attack errors to aid in its demise. Lindsay Cleveland led the Bruins with 14 kills and 10 digs, while Sara Jacobson added 12 kills.
"We got great efforts again from multiple players," UNF head coach Bryan Bunn said. "Emily played well, and we bounced back well after losing the first game. I thought our middle blockers really came to play as well. Wins are always good, and it was nice to finish conference play on a high note. Finishing in the top three our first year in the conference is a nice start."
The Lady Ospreys' defense proved to be the deciding factor in the final three games. Allison O'Neill finished with a career-high nine blocks and 10 kills, while Magen Wood added four blocks and 10 kills. Jennifer King also had 10 kills for UNF. Setter Heather Kendrick finished with a double-double, recording 46 assists and 11 digs, for the Lady Ospreys.
In game one, Belmont raced out to an early advantage and never looked back. The Bruins dominated by hitting .400 and committing just three errors in the 30-23 win, but they couldn't maintain that pace - hitting just .121 in the final three games.
UNF exploded out of the gates in game two, racing out to a 6-0 advantage. The Lady Ospreys eventually led 19-7 and cruised to the finish to tie the match at a game apiece, hitting .406 with only one error in the process.
The teams battled back forth in the final two games before UNF pulled away late in both. In game four, the Bruins led 14-9 before UNF began its rally. The Lady Ospreys rattled off four consecutive points to tie the match at 17 and took the lead for good at 24-23 after a Belmont error. Kohler finished things off with back-to-back kills to give UNF the win.
The Lady Ospreys have four non-conference matches remaining, beginning with UCF in Orlando on Tuesday at 7 p.m. UNF then returns home to finish its home schedule next Friday and Saturday against Florida Gulf Coast and Stetson, respectively.
