BOX SCORE
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Four players hit double-digit kills to lead the University of North Florida past USC Upstate, 3-1 (25-21, 23-25, 25-14, 25-21) in Atlantic Sun Conference action on Friday evening at UNF Arena.
Sophomore Paige Pridgeon led the Osprey (5-15, 2-3 A-Sun) attack with 21 kills. The outside hitter also tallied 17 digs in the match to mark her 11th double-double of the season. Freshman Anna Budinska and senior Jessica Catelano each added 13 kills while sophomore Dagnija Medina posted 10 kills. Freshman Britt Claessens notched 51 assists. On the defensive side, the Ospreys had four players in double-digit digs. Sophomore libero Nicole Baran led with 27 digs, Budinska tallied 13 and Claessens had 12.
“We played much better volleyball than we did last weekend,” said head coach Kevin Campbell. “We worked hard this week on offensive execution. Britt did a great job on making that happen. We had a very balanced offense tonight which is great for our team. Every hitter executed at a high level and brought energy to the whole. With four hitters in double figure kills and four players in double digit digs, that is how we really executed at the high level we've been working toward.”
The Spartans (7-13, 1-4 A-Sun) were led by Morgan Thomas with 18 kills. Emily Sanders had 38 assists. Megan Healey tallied 23 digs.
The Ospreys and the Spartans kept it close in the opening set with the Ospreys taking the largest lead of the set at 22-15. Upstate looked to make a run late, closing the gap to three (22-19) but the Ospreys regained possession to go up 24-19. The Spartans held off the Ospreys for one more point, but a kill from Pridgeon on the final rally gave UNF the point and the 1-0 lead in the match.
In the second set the teams traded runs early with the score going back forth with 13 ties and five lead changes. The Spartans led late with at 24-21 run. UNF looked to threaten, closing the gap to 24-23, but the Spartans secured the point to tie the match 1-1.
UNF controlled the third set, jumping out to an early 11-2 lead. The Spartans would get no closer than six (16-10) as UNF rolled to win to go up 2-1 in the match.
The Spartans took an early 12-8 lead in the fourth set, but the Ospreys battled back to tie it up at 15. UNF scored the next three points to take an 18-15 lead. Upstate never got closer than two as the Ospreys claimed the final set and the match.
UNF will be back on the court on Saturday, Oct. 16 when the team hosts East Tennessee State at 3 p.m. The match marks the Ospreys' annual “Dig Pink” event. The Ospreys have teamed up with The Side-Out Foundation to help raise money for breast cancer research and awareness. UNF's goal is to raise $1,000 and you can help by visiting the Ospreys' website at side-out.org.
