BOX SCORE
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of North Florida volleyball team faced Atlantic 10 foe George Washington on Friday during the first day of action at the 20th Annual Holiday Inn Jefferson Cup hosted by the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va. The Ospreys fell 3-0 to the Colonials in their second match of the day.
“We had some leadership issues and are still struggling to find who we are as a team,” said head coach Kevin Campbell. “The inconsistency of the play in this match was frustrating, but the fact that we had as many highs as lows shows me that we have the ability to get there.”
Leading the Ospreys (0-5) was senior outside hitter Jessica Catelano with six kills. Sophomores Paige Pridgeon and Marija Pantovic added four kills each. Freshman setter Britt Claessens tallied 13 assists while sophomore libero Nicole Baran posted 13 digs.
For GWU (3-2) Lauren Whyte had 12 kills and 12 digs for a double-double. Rachel Goss added nine kills and Katie Crosby notched 20 assists. Candace Silva-Martin tallied 24 digs on the defensive side.
After dropping the first set, 25-8, the Ospreys rallied back in the second set, taking an early 7-3 lead. George Washington responded and tied the set at 11. UNF reclaimed the lead on the next rally, but GWU again responded and took the lead at 15-14. The Colonials took their largest lead of the set at 20-16, but the Ospreys closed the gap at 21-19. Two points is as close as the Ospreys would get as GWU claimed the second set, 25-21, taking a 2-0 lead in the match.
In the third set, GWU grabbed an early 11-3 lead. UNF closed the gap to four (12-8), but the Colonials went on another run to pull ahead by eight at 17-9. GWU took a 10 point lead at 24-14, but the Ospreys got the serve back and scored the next three points. A kill from Goss on the next rally gave GWU the point needed to secure the set, 25-17, and the match.
UNF will return to the court on Saturday, Sept. 4 when the team faces the Big South's Liberty at 1 p.m. in Memorial Gym on the UVA campus.
