NASHVILLE – The University of North Florida women's volleyball team had a solid showing on defense on Friday night, throwing down five blocks and recording 49 digs against Belmont, one of the top teams in the Atlantic Sun Conference.

 

Sophomore Danielle Lerch led UNF (8-11, 6-6 A-Sun) with a team-high10 kills, while freshman Lizzy Manno had a match-high 14 digs in a 3-1 loss (19-25, 26-24, 20-25, 11-25) to the Bruins. The Lady Ospreys ran a new 6-2 offense and got positive performances out of both of their setters, Madie Belvin and Julie Fye, who both combined for 25 assists.

 

“I think we played well in the first and second sets,” head coach Kevin Campbell said. “Set two showed we could be tough under pressure, but we didn't continue it. We did play good volleyball. We blocked well and made the ball go where we wanted it to go. Belmont is a strong team and flipped a switch in the fourth set, and we couldn't adjust quickly enough.”

 

UNF came out strong in the first set, led by Lerch's four kills. The Lady Ospreys put a lot of pressure on the Bruins and were able to tie it at 18. Belmont responded with a 7-1 run, led by Cat Mundy's three service aces to claim the first set.

 

The Lady Ospreys got out to a strong start in the second set and redirected the momentum when they took a 17-12 lead on a solid kill by Lerch. The Bruins answered the challenged and put the pressure back on UNF, closing the gap to tie it at 24.

 

UNF showed its fight by scoring the last two points. Mundy had a service error, and Lerch and senior Bary Rasmussen combined for a crucial block to help the Lady Ospreys seal the second set to knot the match at one.

 

Belmont (15-7, 9-4) went up by as many as seven in the third set before UNF charged all the way back to cut the lead to 21-19 on a kill by Lerch. After a time out, the Bruins regrouped and took advantage of crucial errors by the Lady Ospreys to seal the set victory with a 4-1 run.

 

UNF had two blocks in the fourth set but hit a negative .036. Mundy and Jenny Gray combined for eight kills for Belmont as it hit .321 for the set and cruised to the win.

 

Sophomore Kaley Read had seven kills, nine digs and three aces. Lerch also had two aces.

 

Despite the loss, Campbell was encouraged with how well the team, made up of nine underclassmen, stacked up with a solid Belmont squad.

 

“I see how the team is growing,” Campbell said. “I am really happy with the progress of the freshmen and sophomores. They have continued to hone their game, and I look forward to every match because they continue to bring something more.”

 

UNF steps back into action at 4 p.m. EST on Saturday against Lipscomb in Nashville. Live stats and a live blog will be available on UNFOspreys.com.