Box Score
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Despite giving Florida State all it could handle in the second set, the University of North Florida volleyball team fell 3-0 (15-25, 26-28, 14-25) on Friday at the Seminole Tri-Tournament.
Sophomore Kaley Read led UNF (1-3) with a match-high 13 kills and five blocks while hitting .391. She also tallied five digs. Sophomore Madie Belvin notched 19 assists and six digs, while freshman Lizzy Manno recorded a team-high eight digs.
"I thought we were a little inconsistent tonight, which is frustrating," head coach Kevin Campbell said. "Last weekend, certain players had impact matches, but tonight, we didn't have that same consistency."
After falling too far behind in the first set before bowing out, the Lady Ospreys captured the attention of everyone in the gym with a hard-fought second set. UNF fell behind by three on three separate occasions but were able to come back each time against a team that took No. 23 Long Beach State to five sets on Thursday.
A kill by Read made it 25-24 gave the Lady Ospreys their first lead since the opening points of the set. After FSU tied it up again, UNF went up again 26-25 when a serve by FSU's Rachael Morgan crashed into the net. The set was right within UNF's grasp, but the Seminoles' Abby Niekamp grabbed the win away with a kill. Two consecutive blocks by FSU ended the valiant run by the Lady Ospreys.
"They were consistently competitive for a full set, which was great," Campbell said. "The passing was good, and offensively, we were able to get the ball to our middles. It felt sort of gratifying to be able to compete well with Florida State. Our struggle is getting them to compete for a full match."
The Seminoles (4-1) saved their best for the final set, hitting .304 compared to UNF's mark of .038. The Lady Ospreys scored the first point of the set on an error by FSU's Brianna Barry, but it the only lead of the set for UNF. The Seminoles used an 8-3 run to effectively pull ahead and seal the win.
UNF will return to action at 3 p.m. on Saturday when it takes on South Dakota State at the Seminole Tri-Tournament. Live stats will be available on Seminoles.com.