BOX SCORE

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The No. 6 seeded University of North Florida volleyball team fell to No. 3 seeded East Tennessee State, 3-0 (25-22, 25-17, 25-18) on Friday evening in the opening round of the 2010 Atlantic Sun Conference Volleyball Championship in Fort Myers, Fla.

Leading UNF (7-22) was Paige Pridgeon with 11 kills. She also notched 10 digs in the match for her 15th double-double of the season. Jessica Catelano and Anna Budinska added seven kills each. Britt Claessens put up 35 assists. On the defensive side, Nicole Baran recorded a match-high 12 digs.

For the Bucs (25-8), Alysa Long had eight kills while Megan Devine and Erin Ryan added seven kills each. Whitney Cogburn notched 27 assists. Devine and Kiley Tamblyn had 11 digs each on the defensive side and ETSU blocked 15 hits as a team.

In the first set the Ospreys jumped out to an early, 10-4 lead. The Bucs came back to close the gap to one at 17-16, but UNF held on to the lead and went up three at 19-16. ETSU tied the set up at 22 and took the lead for the first time on the next rally. The Bucs claimed the next two points to take set one and a 1-0 lead in the match.

The Bucs got out early in the second set, taking a 14-7 lead. UNF closed the gap to four at 15-11, but the Bucs went on a run to extend their lead to eight, 21-13. The Ospreys would get no closer than seven over the final rallies as ETSU took a 2-0 lead in the match.

In the third set, the Bucs again took the early lead going up 13-7. UNF closed the gap to five late in the match at 22-17, but ETSU closed out the set with a 3-1 run to take the match and advance to the semifinals.

This was the first appearance for the Ospreys in the A-Sun Championship since completing the transition to NCAA Division I status last season.