Box Score

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Sept. 13, 2008) - The word battle is often said in the University of North Florida women's volleyball huddle, which is certainly what the team did on Saturday against Mercer in a come-from-behind 3-2 win (19-25, 25-18, 34-36, 25- 21, 15-10) at UNF Arena.

Sophomore Kaley Read notched a career- high 27 kills, which tied for the second-most in UNF history for a five-set match. She also recorded her second consecutive double-double with 15 digs. Sophomore setter Madie Belvin helped it all happen with season-highs of 55 assists and 23 digs, while sophomore Chelsea Rabe tallied a career-high 19 digs.

"Our entire focus is on learning how to be calm and confident under pressure," head coach Kevin Campbell. "We don't want emotions to control the outcome, and we didn't let that happen today. We stayed confident and continued to pressure Mercer even when we made errors."

After falling behind 2-1 to a tenacious Mercer squad, the Lady Ospreys used a side out advantage to aid them in taking control of the last two sets. UNF out hit the Bears .116 to .067 over the final two sets and was aided by Read's eight kills in the fourth set.

UNF (5-3, 3-0 Atlantic Sun Conference) traded blows with Mercer in the first set in what was a back- and-forth affair. The Bears took an 18-16 lead before kills from Read, junior Agata Dawidowicz and an error by Mercer's Krista Hurley handed the Lady Ospreys a 19-18 advantage.But Mercer (6-4, 1-2) reclaimed the momentum and went on a 7-0 run to go up 1-0.

Both Read and Dawidowicz were able to lead UNF to victory in the second set, combining for nine kills. The Lady Ospreys used a .231 hitting percentage against Mercer's mark of .156 to knot the match. UNF led by as many as 11 and scored the last three points of the set on a kills from senior Bary Rasmussen and sophomore Danielle Lerch and an ace from freshman Julie Fye.

Although the Lady Ospreys didn't come out on top of what proved to be the longest set played in the nation this season, it seemed to have help propel them to success in the final two sets. UNF was on the verge of victory six times in the third set and battled back from almost certain extinction three times.

The Lady Ospreys used the frustration of falling just short to their advantage in the fourth set and went up 6-1 on a kill by Lerch. Mercer eventually came back to put the pressure on UNF, but the team stayed composed and used a 4-0 run to seal the set.

UNF came out fast again in the final set and took a 7-1 lead on a run that was aided by four-straight Mercer errors. The Lady Ospreys went up by as many eight before the Bears clawed back to pull to cut UNF's lead to 12-9. But the Lady Ospreys eventually brushed off Mercer's attack, and Read put the finishing touches on the win with a kill.

The victory gives UNF its first-ever 3-0 start in the A- Sun and puts the Lady Ospreys in a tie for first place along with 2007 A-Sun Tournament champion Lipscomb. UNF also eclipsed its 2007 win total with the victory.

The Lady Ospreys will return to action at 7 p.m. on Friday at A-Sun foe USC Upstate. Links to live stats will be available on UNFOspreys.com.