BOX SCORE
ORLANDO, Fla. - The University of North Florida volleyball team held off a mid-match surge by Florida Atlantic to secure the 3-2 (25-23, 26-24, 18-25, 22-25, 15-11) victory over the Owls in the season opener for both teams.
The match was played at The Venue on the campus of Central Florida as part of the UCF Fall Classic. The Ospreys will face the host team, Central Florida, tonight at 6 p.m. at The Venue.
On Saturday, UNF will face DePaul in a 9 a.m. contest followed by a 3:30 p.m. match against Bethune Cookman.
”I'm happy that they proved to themselves that they could pull it off,” said UNF head volleyball coach Kevin Campbell. “They made some errors, but they really played with a lot of heart and they really played together. We got down a few points here and there, but they didn't get down and we were able to really pull together as a team during the rough patches.”
UNF (1-0) junior middle blocker, Kaley Read led all attackers with a career-high 28 kills. Read also posted 12 digs for a double-double. Newcomer junior outside hitter Nallelis Sanfeliz added 15 kills. Setter Jessica Catelano had 52 assists and 12 digs. Paige Pridgeon tallied a team-high 15 digs.
Florida Atlantic (0-1) was led by Anne Vaughan with 15 kills. Nicole Gerig had 34 assists while Cintia Nightingale posted 18 digs.
In the first set, UNF and FAU kept the score close with the largest lead being three, held three different times (7-4, 14-11, & 23-20) by the Ospreys. The Owls closed the gap in the final points to 23-22, but kills from junior outside hitter Agata Dawidowicz and Read at the end gave the Ospreys a 1-0 advantage in the match.
The Ospreys got off to a slow start in the second frame, falling behind 12-6 early in the set. FAU held on to the lead and was up 18-12 before the Ospreys responded behind the serving of Pridgeon, who served nine straight, giving UNF the 20-19 advantage before possession returned to the Owls. UNF took its largest lead of the set at the 24-20 mark, but FAU would not go away and tied the set at 24. A kill from Dawidowicz and an error from the Owls secured the second set for the Ospreys.
FAU came out strong in the third set, taking a 13-4 lead. North Florida rallied though and closed the gap to two at 17-15. Georgia Robinson served five straight for the Owls to put FAU up 23-18. UNF was unable to score as the Owls scored the final two points to pick up their first set of the match.
In the fourth set, the Owls jumped out to an early 6-3 lead, but the Ospreys came back to take the lead at 11-10. North Florida held on to the lead and was up 20-16, but Florida Atlantic scored the next four points to knot the set. UNF pulled back into the lead on the next volley, but the Owls got the ball back and scored the next three points to take a 23-21 lead. UNF had a chance, but a kill and ace by the Owls tied the match at two sets each.
Going into the fifth set, the Owls won the first serve and capitalized by serving the first four of the set, taking a 3-0 lead. A service error gave the ball to the Ospreys, who responded, knotting the set at four. The set was again tied at six. Read served the next five as Sanfeliz had three kills during the possession to put the Ospreys on top 9-6. FAU pulled within one (9-8), but a kill from Dawidowicz and two from Sanfeliz gave UNF the 11-8 advantage. FAU would get no closer than two (13-11) as the Ospreys rolled to the win, winning the fifth set 15-11.
