UNF-CofC boxscore
UNF-UNCW boxscore

CHARLESTON, S.C. – The University of North Florida volleyball team (5-7) split a pair of competitive five-set contests versus College of Charleston and UNC Wilmington on day two of the Hampton Inn Invitational at TD Arena.

UNF opened the day with a comeback 3-2 (20-25, 26-24, 15-25, 25-14, 15-11) victory over tournament host College of Charleston. In their tournament finale, the Ospreys rallied from two sets down to force a fifth set against UNC Wilmington but came up just short in a 3-2 (17-25, 26-28, 25-23, 25-16, 10-15) loss.

Junior Paige Pridgeon was named to the all-tournament team after collecting double-doubles in all four matches of the event.

The Ospreys and Cougars went back-and-forth early in the first set with eight ties and neither team holding larger than a three-point lead. CofC built a 22-17 lead after stringing together six straight points and then held of UNF for the 25-20 win.

The second set saw North Florida rally from a slow start and fight off a set point to even the match with an extra-point victory. Trailing 20-16 late in the frame, UNF tallied six consecutive points on Pridgeon's serve to move in front. The Ospreys then turned back the Cougars at set point using a pair of kills from Carolyn Jenkins to win, 26-24.

College of Charleston raced out to a quick 8-2 lead in set three and refused to let UNF get closer than two points the rest of the way. The Cougars scored 9 of the last 10 points en route to the 25-15 victory. 

UNF turned the tables on the Cougars in the fourth set grabbing the early edge with a 7-1 surge. A 10-3 run later in the stanza put the Ospreys in control for a 25-14 win. Pridgeon smashed seven kills in leading a high powered UNF offense (.353 hitting percentage) in the set.

The Ospreys carried the momentum into the fifth stanza scoring the first four points. The Cougars would outscore UNF 8-2 to earn their own advantage in the decisive frame. With the score knotted at 9-9, three points in a row for North Florida proved to be the necessary rally as the Ospreys closed out the match.

Pridgeon hit a season-best .324, including a .563 clip in over the final two sets, finishing with a team best 16 kills. Marija Pantovic had a personal high 14 kills and Jenkins added 10 in the victory. Freshman setter Casey Giovanazzi also handed out a career best 54 assists.

Libero Nicole Baran led the Ospreys with 19 digs while Pridgeon netted 11 for her third double-double of the weekend. At the net, UNF finished with a 10 blocks led by eight from Pantovic and six for Dagnija Medina.

“This win was a team effort in every sense of the word,” said UNF head coach Kevin Campbell. “Everybody played well and several players had career best performances. We took a great step forward in both our team and program development today. We are looking forward to getting into conference play next weekend.”

In the day's second match, UNC-Wilmington used an early 8-1 spurt and a six-point run later in the set to grab the early lead with a 25-17 set one victory.

Set two featured a back-and-forth battle with both squads taking turns with the lead. The competition included 13 ties with the last coming at 26-all. North Florida fought off three set points before the Seahawks were able to score back-to-back points for the 28-26 victory.

UNCW appeared on pace to earn the three set sweep after building a 21-17 in the third frame, but UNF refused to quit scoring seven of the next eight points including five straight to reach set point. The Ospreys extended the match with a 25-23 decision.

UNF scored the first five points in set four and slowly built their lead to 18-9. The Seahawks trimmed the margin to five points but another five-point surge by the Ospreys allowed them to even the match.

In the fifth set, Wilmington jumped out 4-0 and held a lead throughout. The Ospreys closed the deficit to one point twice and fought off a pair of match points before falling 15-10 in the deciding frame. 

Cameron McGuire tallied a career best 17 kills and had three blocks for North Florida. Pridgeon added 13 kills and 12 digs and Baran finished with a match-high 21 digs. Pantovic and Jenkins each collected five blocks.

The Ospreys next continue their seven-match road stretch and begin Atlantic Sun Conference play next weekend with matches at Stetson (Sept. 23) and Florida Gulf Coast (Sept. 24).