JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The University of North Florida volleyball team defeated crosstown rival Jacksonville in straight sets, 3-0 (25-11, 25-19, 25-23), to clinch a spot in the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament. The tournament berth is the first for the UNF volleyball team since making the transition to full Division I status.
North Florida will be the No. 6 seed in the upcoming A-Sun Tournament (Nov. 18-20) in Fort Myers, Fla. and face the No. 3 seed.
“I am really proud of this team,” head coach Kevin Campbell exclaimed after the match. “The motivation was not only that it was for the tournament, we were playing crosstown rival JU and we have been playing better and better volleyball for the last six weeks. It all came together on the right night.
“I am really excited because I love this team. This team is a team in every definition. They play for each other. They play well together. There is great mutual respect for each other. I want more matches with this team. It is a great group.”
The Dolphins (14-16, 4-6 A-Sun) were led by Alyssa Robertson and Brittany Lehman who each had seven kills in the match. Kendall Courtney led JU with 23 assists and Ashley August had a team-high seven digs.
In the opening set, the Ospreys jumped out to a 2-0 lead and never trailed in the match. UNF extended its lead to 10-3 before JU closed the gap to 10-6. The Ospreys used a 5-to-1 run to take a 15-7 lead. After dropping the next point, UNF used a surge of scoring and finished off the set on a 10-to-3 run. North Florida did not record an attack error in the match and cruised to an easy 25-11 victory to take a 1-0 lead.
In the second set, the two teams battled back and forth and remained tied at 6-6. Jacksonville took its biggest lead of the match at 8-6 before the Ospreys scored five straight points to take an 11-8 lead. JU closed the gap to within one at 12-11, but UNF fought back and extended its advantage to eight (21-13). The two teams exchanged points with UNF finishing off the set 25-19 to take a two set advantage into the break.
After trading points in the early stages of the third set, Jacksonville pulled ahead and held a seven point lead at 16-9. North Florida chipped away at the JU lead closing the gap until the match was tied at 19-19. The Dolphins won the next two points, but the resilient Ospreys once again fought back. Trailing 23-21, UNF received back-to-back kills from Catelano to tie the match at 23-23. A third straight kill by Catelano gave UNF the lead and match point. An attack error by the Dolphins ended the match and sealed the straight-set victory for the Ospreys.
In addition to advancing to the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament, North Florida's victory over Jacksonville tied up the standings in the SunTrust River City Rumble. JU jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the standings after sweeping both men's and women's soccer and edging out the Ospreys, 3-2, in volleyball. Men's and women's cross country gave UNF a pair of points to cut the Dolphins lead to 3-2. UNF's straight set victory evened the standings at 3-3.
The match was also the final home match for three seniors. Before the match, the North Florida volleyball team honored Catelano, Greenlee and Chelsea Rabe for their contributions to the team.
