JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After dropping the first two sets, the University of North Florida volleyball team rallied to take the next three, defeating Atlantic Sun foe Stetson, 3-2 (24-26, 23-25, 25-11, 25-10,17-15) on Friday night in UNF Arena.

“Unfortunately it took us two games to start playing our type of volleyball,” said UNF head coach Kevin Campbell. “We will continue to improve on our consistency. I was proud of my team for changing their fate after game two and playing with heart to win.”

Three players tallied double digit kills to lead the Ospreys (6-6, 2-3 A-Sun). Junior outside hitters Kaley Read and Danielle Lerch posted 23 and 22 kills, respectively. Read also tallied 11 digs in the match for a double-double. Freshman outside hitter Paige Pridgeon added 14 kills, 12 digs and tallied six service aces. Sophomore setter Julie Fye notched 43 assists. On the defensive side freshman libero Nicole Baran and junior defensive specialist Chelsea Rabe each had 12 digs.

“I thought Julie Fye really brought good energy and good connection with the hitters,” Campbell said. “She was able to really pull our team together. Chelsea Rabe also came in off the bench and changed our defense.”

For the Hatters (0-12, 0-6 A-Sun) Stephanie Canfield led with 12 kills. Kelli Carneal added 10 kills and posted 24 assists. Anna Becker tallied 13 digs on the defensive side.

The Ospreys had to overcome a rough start in sets one and two. Stetson came out strong in the opening set, hitting 34.5 percent as a team. UNF put up a fight, tying the set five times in the final rallies. The two teams were knotted at 24, but a pair of miscues by the Ospreys gave Stetson the points needed to take the opening set, 26-24.

The Hatters kept their momentum going into the second set, jumping out to an early 7-2 lead. UNF took a late lead at 22-21, but Carneal fired off three straight aces to put the Hatters up by one (23-22). Sarah Sears hit a pair of kills to secure the second set, 25-23 for the Hatters.

North Florida came out on fire in the third set, taking a quick 13-6 lead behind the attacking of Read and Lerch. The Hatters would score their last point at 17-11. UNF closed out the set with a service run by junior outside hitter Nallelis Sanfeliz who served seven straight including a pair of service aces to secure the final two points of the set, giving the Ospreys the 25-11 win.

In the fourth frame, UNF hit 54.2 percent as a team to control the set from the beginning. The Ospreys rolled to a 25-10 win in the fourth set to knot the match at 2-2.

The fifth set was a battle between the two teams with 12 ties and seven lead changes with the last being at 15. Pridgeon put together a kill followed by her sixth ace of the match to secure the set, 17-15 and the match, 3-2 for the Ospreys.

“Ultimately the whole team decided that they were going to win this match and began to play like that,” Campbell said.

North Florida will be back in action on Saturday, Sept. 26 when it hosts Florida Gulf Coast. Match time is set for 3 p.m. in UNF Arena.