Sept. 1, 2006

Box Score

Labor Day Classic Home Page

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The University of North Florida volleyball team did something on Friday night that it has had difficulty doing through four matches in the young 2006 season - finish strong.

After taking the first two games against Appalachian State in the opening round of the 11th Annual UNF Labor Day Classic, the Lady Ospreys broke a late game-four tie with strong play - rattling off a 4-0 run to finish the final game - and posted a 3-1 win (30-27, 30-22, 27-30, 30-26) over the Mountaineers.

Three UNF players finished with double figures in kills - led by Maegan Weisert, who recorded her third straight double-double with 16 kills and 16 assists. Weisert hit .263 for the night and capped the performance with her only ace on the match's final play.

Amy Stroder added 14 kills and 10 digs for her fourth double-double of the season. Allison O'Neill also had 11 kills for the Lady Ospreys (2-3), while Jenna Thomas tallied 51 assists.

"It was a great win," UNF head coach Bryan Bunn said. "We played with the intensity that we needed. Maegan Weisert and Magen Wood played really well. It's a good start to the weekend."

Wood finished with five blocks, including three solos. One of those solo blocks cane on the next-to-last play of the match and set up Weisert's match-point ace.

As a team, UNF hit just .173 but was strong in game four, hitting .349 in the final frame with 19 kills and only four errors. Appalachian State (2-2) hit .181 for the match and finished with 32 errors.

Brittany Zahn had 15 kills for the Mountaineers, while Dianna Thomas added 14. Chrissy Finch had 11 kills and 19 digs.

In games one and two, the Lady Ospreys came out strong. The teams battled to a 24-24 tie in the opener before four key ASU errors and clutch points from Weisert and Stroder allowed the Lady Ospreys to pull away. In game two, UNF erased a 6-4 deficit with a 4-0 run and never trailed again, getting five kills from O'Neill to build an early 2-0 cushion. In game three, Appalachian State caught fire, getting a perfect hitting game from Thomas (five kills in five attempts) to climb within 2-1.

Weisert and Stroder took over in game four, however, tallying a combined 11 of the team's 19 kills to push the Lady Ospreys out to an early lead. The teams were tied at 23, 24, 25 and 26 before UNF pulled away at the end.

The Labor Day Classic continues on Saturday with four matches, beginning with Appalachian State and Idaho State at 10 a.m. UNF plays Murray State at 12:30 p.m. and Idaho State at 7:30 p.m.