Aug. 26, 2006
Game 1 Box l Game 2 Box
TROY, Ala. - The University of North Florida volleyball team finally got into the win column at the Troy/Hampton Inn Spiketacular, upending tournament host Troy 3-1 (25-30, 30-24, 30-20, 30-21) on Saturday afternoon to finish the two-day event with a 1-2 record.
The Lady Ospreys lost 3-0 to Saint Mary's (30-28, 30-22, 30-26) in their first match on Saturday after falling to Tulsa on Friday night. Against Troy, UNF dropped game one 30-25 after committing 10 attack errors and hitting .000 but rebounded strong in their next three games to coast to an easy win. For the match, the Lady Ospreys hit .226 - recording .316, .326 and .278 attack percentages, respectively, the rest of the way.
UNF got 12 kills from senior Emily Kohler, who hit .632. A pair of Lady Ospreys posted double-doubles - Amy Stroder with 15 kills and 12 digs, and Maegan Weisert with 13 kills and 11 digs. Jenna Thomas finished with 47 assists and nine digs.
"I was glad to see us bounce back after two bad losses," UNF head coach Bryan Bunn said. "We didn't play as well as we are capable of playing in our first two matches. We needed to come out strong against Troy, and we did."
Against Saint Mary's (2-0), UNF proved to be its own worst enemy.
The teams staged a tight battle in the opening game, exchanging leads seven times and forging 13 ties - the last at 27. Saint Mary's got a pair of kills from Taylor Groess to put the match away, however, and take an early 1-0 advantage. UNF had 17 kills, compared to just 10 for the Gaels, but committed 11 errors in the loss.
In game two, Saint Mary's used a late 6-1 flurry to close out the game and pull away for the win. Game three proved to be a repeat of game one, with 14 costly hitting errors leading to UNF's downfall.
UNF hit just .114 for the match and committed 33 errors total against the Gaels. The Lady Ospreys had more kills than Saint Mary's - 48-33 - but UNF also had 12 service errors.
Saint Mary's hit just .186 but had only 14 errors. Groess, Missie Stidham and Brittany Barker led the Gaels with six kills apiece.
Kohler led UNF with 16 kills and seven digs. Thomas tallied 40 assists.
UNF opens it home season on Tuesday night against UCF. Match time is set for 7 p.m. at UNF Arena.
