JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The University of North Florida women's volleyball team put a spook into East Tennessee State on Halloween night at UNF Arena in a thrilling 3-2 win (25-17, 25-20, 19-25, 22-25, 15-11).
Junior Agata Dawidowicz had a monster match with a season-bests of 24 kills and a .474 hitting percentage. Sophomore Kaley Read recorded 15 kills and nine digs, while freshman setter Julie Fye had a double-double with season- highs of 51 assists and 11 digs in her first start at the position.
"Overall, we stayed mentally focused the entire match, and we had individuals step up," head coach Kevin Campbell said. "Even when ETSU pushed back, we stayed consistent and focused. We did well at executing our game plan and were tough on the serve."
UNF (9-13, 7-8 Atlantic Sun Conference) hit .310 in the first set, led by Read's five kill, .364 (5-1-11) showing. The Lady Ospreys took a 6-6 tie and turned it into a 14-6 advantage with sophomore Danielle Lerch serving and Dawidowicz and Read combining for four kills.
UNF didn't allow ETSU (8-16, 5-10) to get closer than six points the rest of the way. Sophomore Chelsea Rabe notched five digs in the set.
The second set started out tough for the Lady Ospreys when the Lady Bucs took a seemingly commanding 14-9 lead, but after a UNF timeout, the Lady Ospreys pushed back. Three Dawidowicz kills led the Lady Ospreys in going on a 5-0 run and take a 15-14 lead.
Fye's service ace gave UNF an 18-15 lead, however ETSU inched back to cut the lead to 21-20. Following a service error by ETSU's Whitney Cogburn, the Lady Ospreys cruised to the set victory after closing it out on a 4-0 run. Dawidowicz and Read combined for eight kills during the set, while Fye tallied 11 assists.
ETSU made things intense when it was able to take the third and fourth sets after hitting a combined .346. But the Lady Ospreys refused to give the match away and answered the challenge.
With the fifth set tied at four, three-straight Lady Bucs errors gave UNF a 7-4 lead. The Lady Ospreys took their largest lead in the set when Fye smashed an ace to give UNF a 12-7 lead. Lerch sealed the win when she hammered down a kill.
Rabe finished with a team-high 15 digs. UNF finished with a .250 hitting percentage, its best output since Sept. 30.
The Lady Ospreys will try to ride its momentum when it returns to action at 3 p.m. on Saturday against USC Upstate at UNF Arena. Live stats and live video will be on UNFOspreys.com.
