Final Stats

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The University of North Florida women's volleyball team held a 2-1 lead but could not hold the advantage and fell 3-2 (30-26, 26-30, 30-28, 16-30, 11-15) to Stetson on Saturday at UNF Arena.

Senior Maegan Weisert recorded her seventh double-double and second in a row with a season-high 24 kills and 16 digs. Senior Claire Yonutas also notched a double-double with 10 kills and 13 digs. Freshman Kaley Read tallied 15 kills.

UNF (4-24, 1-10 Atlantic Sun Conference) was outhit ..310 to .186 despite leading in hitting percentage for most of the match. The Ospreys were set back by an .054 clip in game four and a .000 mark in game five.

The Ospreys came out with a fire in the match and got started quickly, gaining a 3-0 lead in game one on a run that was highlighted by a service ace by freshman Madeline Belvin and a kill by junior Bary Rasmussen. The Hatters answered back to tie the score, where it stayed until UNF went on a 3-0 run to take a 14-11 lead.

Stetson (10-15, 4-7) battled back by going on a 7-1 run to take an 18-15 lead and put the pressure back on the Ospreys. UNF responded well, scoring the five points to go up 20-18. The Ospreys were able to hold the momentum and outscore the Hatters 10-8 the rest of the way to take a 1-0 match lead.

Game two was packed full of offense and spot-on hitting. UNF hit a solid .386 but was outdone by Stetson's remarkable .512. The Ospreys dominated control early in the second game, jumping out to a 5-1 lead on a run that was aided by two Belvin aces.

UNF held a steady four point lead until Stetson found a groove and took its first lead of the game at 20-19. The Hatters stayed in the driver's seat and didn't let UNF respond en route to a 10-7 run to wrap up the game two win.

Even though the Ospreys hit .127 in the third game, UNF was able to pull out the win to go up 2-1 after holding a furious rally by Stetson. The Ospreys took advantage of a sizable lead that grew to as much as 10. UNF held a 26-16 lead before the Hatters clamped down and pulled to within 29-28. But Yonutas put an end to the comeback with a kill that allowed the Ospreys to seal the win.

The Ospreys were primed to end the match in the fourth, taking a 5-3 lead. But Stetson was able to hit its spots and recorded a .438 hitting percentage to effectively put UNF out of arm's length of the lead. The Hatters went on a 9-2 run to go up 19-10 and never looked back.

It looked as if UNF was going to make quick work of Stetson in game five after taking another early lead at 5-2 on a run that was highlighted by two aces from freshman Chelsea Rabe. But Stetson again found its rhythm and went on a 7-2 run that helped it go on to claim the match.

The Ospreys tied its season-high with 15 aces, led by Yonutas' career-high five. Junior Nikki Prock led UNF on defense with 24 digs, while Belvin finished with 52 assists.

UNF will return to action at 6 p.m. on Tuesday at Florida A&M in a non-conference contest.