Volleyball Takes 3-2 Win at USC Upstate

Friday, October 12

Spartanburg, S.C.

7 pm

University of North Florida

-119, 35 ASun

USC Upstate

-713, 26 ASun

North Florida

USC Upstate

Photo by: Todd Drexler

10/12/2012 10:25:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: North Florida Athletics

Boxscore (PDF)

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – University of North Florida volleyball fended off USC Upstate to take a close and thrilling 3-2 (25-23, 23-25, 24-26, 25-21, 16-14) Atlantic Sun victory on Friday night at the Hodge Center.

"It was a hard fought battle with five tight sets," said head coach Steve Loeswick. "I am very happy that we could play with enough poise to win. Our middies did a very nice job at staying consistent throughout the match both offensively and defensively. We got a lot of good touches with our blocks tonight."

Carolyn Jenkins had a huge night for the Ospreys, notching the match-point and match-winning kills en route to a career-high tying 19 kills. Jenkins also hit .412 and added six blocks. Meanwhile, Anna Budinska and Marija Pantovic added 17 and 12 kills, respectively. A trio of Ospreys – Britt Claessens (58 assists, 14 digs), Paige Pridgeon (11 kills, 13 digs) and Dagnija Medina (10 kills, 12 digs) – each had a double-double. Nicole Baran dug 23 balls.

Kayla Eversgerd led the Spartans with a 16-kill, 11-dig double-double. Lexi Gober added a 50-assist, 11-dig double-double. Emily Sanders tallied 20 digs.

A late four-point run helped UNF, who hit .359 for the first set, capture the opening set. Trailing 19-17, a kill from Medina sparked the Ospreys' critical run that allowed them to go up 21-19. UNF and the Spartans traded points for the remainder of the set until a kill from Pridgeon gave UNF the win.

Late runs was the difference in the second set, but this time it was USC Upstate putting together the scoring spurts. A five-point run allowed the Spartans to take an 18-16 advantage. UNF cut into USC Upstate's lead and went up 21-20 on a Pantovic kill, but a costly four-point run returned a 24-21 advantage to the Spartans. Although a key kill from Jenkins and a critical Jenkins-Budinska block brought UNF to within one, USC Upstate took the set on an Eversgerd kill in order to even the match.

UNF fought back after being down by four late into the third set. The Ospreys put together a key four-point run that saw Budinska tying the set at 19-19 on a kill. UNF used back-to-back points on several occasions to hold set point, but USC Upstate rallied and ended the set with a four-point run of its own to go up 2-1 in the match.

The Ospreys bounced back with a critical fourth set. UNF lead by as many as seven early on. USC Upstate attempted to cut into the Ospreys' lead, bringing it down to two, but UNF's offense answered by building up a late six-point advantage. A kill from Jenkins made it 20-14 in favor of the Ospreys. The Spartans eventually brought UNF's lead down to two, but the Ospreys were able to fend off USC Upstate and get kills from Budinska and Pantovic to close out the set and force a deciding fifth set.

A Medina kill sparked a late, critical four-point run in the fifth set that allowed the Ospreys to surge to a 12-9 advantage. However, USC Upstate chipped away at UNF's lead to even the set at 14-14 on an Eversgerd kill. After a quick timeout, back-to-back kills from Jenkins lifted the Ospreys to a 16-14 fifth set win.

UNF returns to action on Saturday when the Ospreys visit ETSU. Match time is set for 3 p.m.