Nov. 8, 2005

Box Score

ORLANDO, Fla. - It took the North Florida volleyball team nearly three months to stretch a match to five games. Tuesday night's result was definitely worth the wait.

The Lady Ospreys overcame a tentative start and got a mammoth performance from junior Emily Kohler to knock off Conference USA foe UCF 3- 2 at UCF Arena, stretching their winning streak to three straight overall. UNF (17-9) has now won 14 of its last 17 matches.

Kohler finished with a season-high 22 kills, the most by any Lady Osprey this season, and hit .514 to lead UNF to a victory in the first meeting between the schools in volleyball (25-30, 33-31, 30-21, 26-30, 15- 12). UNF hit .248 as a team.

"Emily had a fantastic night for us," UNF head coach Bryan Bunn said. "She has really played well her last three matches and came up big again tonight. As a team, we started out a little slow but really picked it up in the second and third games. We stayed tough and showed a lot of character in a tight match."

After losing game one, UNF took a big lead in game two and appeared poised to put things away before UCF (7-16) made a final push, rallying from a 29-26 deficit to take a 31-30 lead. UNF's Amy Stroder recorded a kill and teamed with Allison O'Neill for a block to push UNF back ahead 32-31, however. Kohler then finished the game off with her fifth kill of the frame to even the match 1-1.

UNF blistered the ball in game three, hitting .500 with just two errors to earn a 30-21 win, getting five kills apiece from Stroder and Kohler. UCF won game four to set up a UNF's first five-game finish of the 2005 season.

In the final game, the Lady Ospreys fell behind 7-4 out of the gate but rattled off seven consecutive points after that to move ahead 11-7. UCF bounced back to tie the game at 11, but could never move back in front. A pair of Kohler points sandwiched two UCF errors to give UNF the 15-12 victory its second win over a Conference USA team this season (Southern Miss).

Stroder added 13 kills for UNF, while Magen Wood had 10 kills and six blocks. Freshman setter Heather Kendrick directed the UNF attack with 52 assists, her fifth time to top 50 assists this year. Jenna Thomas had 24 digs for the Lady Ospreys.

UCF's Schanell Neiderworder led the Golden Knights with 20 kills and 11 digs, while Jana Mitchell had 16 kills.

The Lady Ospreys return to action with their final homestand of the year this weekend when they entertain Florida Gulf Coast on Friday at 7 p.m. and Stetson on Saturday at 3 p.m. on Senior Day at UNF Arena.