University of North Florida
9-11
Florida Gulf Coast University
15-2
Lady Ospreys fall to FGCU
9/30/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 30, 2006
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The University of North Florida volleyball team finally caught fire on Saturday afternoon, but not until the damage was too great to overcome.
Florida Gulf Coast, which is ranked 14th in Division II, took the first two games against the Lady Ospreys at the UNF-JU Invitational before UNF stormed back in game three and then came within an eyelash of forcing a decisive game five at Jacksonville University's Swisher Gymnasium.
UNF (9-11) did snap a 38-game winning streak by the Eagles (15-2) with its victory in game three, but the Lady Ospreys couldn't come up with critical points late in game four to force a decisive frame. The 3-1 win was FGCU's first against UNF in three tries.
Emily Kohler tallied a double-double for UNF with 18 kills and 12 digs, while Amy Stroder added 16 kills. Allison O'Neill and Maegan Weisert each tallied 12 kills for the Lady Ospreys.
UNF hit .222 for the match, while FGCU hit .241. The Lady Ospreys hit .327 in game three with just three errors and .226 in game four.
"We played well in stretches, but we weren't consistent enough early in the match," UNF head coach Bryan Bunn said. "That was the difference. "
The Lady Ospreys put together a solid rally in the opener, battling back from a 25-19 deficit to move ahead 27-26. The Eagles took over from there, however, outscoring the Lady Ospreys 4-0 the rest of the way to jump on top 1-0.
In game two, FGCU took control early and never looked back, rolling to a 30-19 win. UNF hit just .061 in the frame and couldn't dig its way out of a 20-13 hole.
Things turned around in game three, with UNF getting its offense rolling. O'Neill hit .667 with four kills, and Stroder and Kohler each added five kills to keep the match going and snap FGCU's winning streak, which dated back to Sept. 1.
In game four, the teams battled back and forth - with UNF tying the game at 26 and 28 late before the Eagles put the match away. Heather Van Olst ended it with a kill, her 14th of the match.
Ericka Fonseca led the Eagles with 19 kills, while Brooke Youngquist tallied a career-high 32 digs.
Jenna Thomas had 50 assists to pace the UNF attack.
The Lady Ospreys open conference play next weekend, traveling to Kennesaw State on Friday and East Tennessee State on Saturday.
