BOX SCORE
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Juniors Danielle Lerch and Kaley Read combined for 35 kills as they led the University of North Florida Volleyball team past Atlantic Sun foe USC Upstate, 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-13) in the Osprey's 2009 home opener on Saturday, Sept. 19 at UNF Arena.
Lerch posted 18 kills while hitting 50 percent for the Ospreys (5-6, 1-3 A-Sun). Read tallied 17 kills on 51.6 percent hitting. Junior setter Jessica Catelano notched 43 assists. Freshman outside hitter Paige Pridgeon led the team on the defensive side with 10 digs. Pridgeon also tallied seven aces in the match, just one shy of tying the UNF record for a three set match.
“We had several players who played well today,” said UNF head coach Kevin Campbell. “I thought Paige had an excellent match today, in her passing and her jump serves. Our attackers, Danielle and Kaley, really stood out today and a lot of that can be attributed to our passing. The ball passing was there today allowing Jessica to be able to place the ball to where it needed to be for our attackers to really be able to execute.”
For the Spartans, (3-9, 0-5 A-Sun) Morgan Thomas and Erin Jacobsen had nine kills each to lead the way. Setter Emily Sanders tallied 27 assists while Megan Healey had 11 digs.
The two teams kept the first set close early, but UNF took a three point lead at 13-10. Upstate closed the lead back down to one about 14-13, but were never able to take the lead. North Florida took its largest lead of the game at 22-17 off a kill by Read. The Spartans fought back in the final rallies, closing the gap to two (23-21), but back-to-back kills from Pridgeon gave the Ospreys the two needed to take set one and a 1-0 lead in the match.
In the second set, UNF took an early 11-6 lead off an ace by Pridgeon. The Spartans battled back and closed the gap to two at 12-10. North Florida held on to the lead over the next several rallies, but Upstate went on a run and tied the set at 17. UNF responded with three straight kills from Read sparking an 8-3 run to close out the set, taking a 2-0 set advantage in the match.
UNF and Upstate battled in the opening volleys of the third set and were tied at 11. UNF was up 15-12 when the Ospreys took control of the set. Pridgeon served the next ten straight, hitting four aces during the run, giving UNF the 24-12 lead at the end of the run. Upstate would score once more, but a kill by Read gave the Ospreys the final point needed to take the set and the match.
The Ospreys will be back in action on Friday, Sept. 25 when they host Stetson. Game time is set for 7 p.m. in UNF Arena.
