BOX SCORE
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The University of North Florida volleyball team fell to Florida Gulf Coast, 3-0 on Friday evening in Atlantic Sun Conference action at Alico Arena in Fort Myers, Fla.
With sets of 22-25, 18-25, 18-25 the Ospreys fall to 8-13 on the season and 3-9 in the A-Sun while the Eagles improve to 11-7 and 10-2 in the league.
Junior middle blocker Kaley Read led the Ospreys with 14 kills. Outside hitters, senior Agata Dawidowicz and freshman Paige Pridgeon both had six kills. Pridgeon also had a team-high eight digs. Junior setter Jessica Catelano tallied 29 assists. Freshman libero Nicole Baran posted six digs.
“Kaley Read hit very well tonight and Nicole Baran also played a good match, but our team played very average volleyball tonight,” said head coach Kevin Campbell. “Now we have to go back and get ready to play Stetson tomorrow night. Hopefully we can pull it together and play much better than we did against Gulf Coast.”
For the Eagles, Emma Racila had 14 kills. Jelena Simic and Anna Wagner both had eight kills. Chandra Lefever notched 37 assists and a match-high 10 digs.
UNF and FGCU traded points over the opening rallies of the first set and were tied at 13 before the Eagles went on a 6-0 run to extend their lead to 19-13. UNF looked to make a late run, closing the gap to two at 23-21, but FGCU held on to take a 1-0 advantage in the match.
In the second set the two teams kept the score close early, but FGCU went on a run to take a 15-9 lead. UNF was unable to respond as the Eagles picked up the 25-18 win and a 2-0 lead in the match.
The Ospreys and the Eagles went back and forth to open the third set, but FGCU was again able to respond with a run to break open the scoring, taking a 17-9 lead. UNF looked to close the gap, pulling to within four at 20-16, but that is as close as the Ospreys would come as FGCU held on for the 25-18 win, securing the match.
UNF will be back in action on Saturday, Oct. 17 when it takes on Stetson in a 5 p.m. match at the Edmunds Center in DeLand, Fla.
