BOX SCORE

ORLANDO, Fla. – Despite three players posting double digit kills, the University of North Florida volleyball team dropped a close five set match to DePaul, 3-2 (21-25, 25-20, 20-25, 25-19, 8-15) on Saturday in the first game on the second day of the UCF Classic, hosted in The Venue on the Central Florida campus.

“We fought all the way,” said UNF head coach Kevin Campbell. “I was very proud of our team. Our goal for the weekend was to play strong and become a team, in every point, every set and every match. We wanted to work on coming together more as a team, and I think we did that. Offensively, I think we played very strong. I think our blocking is continuing to improve. I am very excited to see the next steps that our team will take towards coming together.”

The Ospreys (1-2) will be back in action this afternoon as they take on Bethune-Cookman in the 3:30 p.m. match of the UCF Classic.

Junior Kaley Read and freshman Paige Pridgeon both posted 20 kills during the match while Nallelis Sanfeliz added 12. Sanfeliz also led the team with 13 digs for a double-double. Jessica Catelano tallied 49 assists.

DePaul was led by Sarah Cullen with 17 kills and 15 digs. Kate Letcher added 13 kills while Rachel Aumann had 11. Sammy Geiger had 46 assists.

UNF kept close to DePaul through the opening set, but the Blue Demons maintained the lead, going in front by five three times with the last at 20-15. North Florida close the gap to three (20-17) off an ace by Dagnija Medina. The Blue Demons increased their lead, going up 24-18, but a kill from Read gave the Ospreys another chance at 24-19. Read and Catelano secured another point for the Ospreys on a block and Agata Dawidowicz served an ace to bring UNF within three (24-21). An error on the next play gave DePaul the point it needed to secure set one, 25-21.

The second set was another battle with six ties and two lead changes. The last tie in the set was at 14-14, before a Catelano service run, highlighted by two aces, put the Ospreys up 20-14. DePaul scored two of the next three points (21-16), but back-to-back kills from Sanfeliz gave UNF a 23-16 advantage. The Blue Demons would again look to even the score, but would get no closer than four (23-19) as Read put together a pair of kills to give the Ospreys the points to take set two, 25-20.

In the third set, UNF jumped out early, taking a 7-2 lead. The Ospreys held on to the lead until DePaul tied up the score at nine. The Blue Demons would then go on a 5-0 run behind the serving of Chelsea Thurlby and take a 14-9 lead. UNF pulled to within one at 16-15 with a kill from Pridgeon, but that is as close to taking back the lead the Ospreys would come as DePaul held on for the, 25-20 win in set three.

Set four was controlled by North Florida from start to finish. The Ospreys took the lead at 2-1 and never looked back. The closest that the Blue Demons would come was a tie at 17. UNF closed out the set with a 8-2 run punctuated by three kills from Read. UNF knotted the match at two games each with the 25-19 win in the fourth set.

UNF and DePaul traded points in the opening rallies of the fifth set and were tied at five. The Blue Demons broke open the scoring fueled by a six serve run by Cullen, pulling DU in front, 10-5. A kill from Pridgeon on the next volley pulled the Ospreys to within four, but UNF would be unable to close the gap as DePaul held on to take the fifth set (15-8) and the match.