Volleyball Stumbles at ETSU, 3-1

Saturday, October 13

Johnson City, Tenn.

3 pm

University of North Florida

11-10, 3-6

ETSU

15-8, 6-3

North Florida

ETSU

Photo by: Todd Drexler

10/13/2012 5:53:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: North Florida Athletics

Boxscore (PDF)

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Facing the Atlantic Sun's top blocking team, University of North Florida volleyball dropped a 3-1 (25-22, 19-25, 21-25, 24-26) match to ETSU at Brooks Gym on Saturday afternoon to conclude the first half of the Ospreys' A-Sun schedule.

"Today, we saw glimpses of the team I think we can be," said head coach Steve Loeswick. "We did a nice job at staying composed. I hope to build on our play from this weekend's matches."

A trio of Ospreys registered double digit kills – Carolyn Jenkins (17 kills), Paige Pridgeon (13) and Dagnija Medina (10). Britt Claessens put up 50 assists, while Nicole Baran and Cari Whitmire added 17 and 12 digs, respectively.

As a team, ETSU registered 17 total blocks. Individually, Megan Devine and Meredith Hardy led ETSU with a pair of double-doubles. Devine registered a 13-kill, 11-dig double-double, while Hardy had 12 kills and 10 blocks.

In a close first set that featured 13 ties and eight lead changes, it wasn't until the end of the set when the Ospreys broke away from ETSU. Tied 22-22, a kill from Jenkins started a set-ending three-point run that lifted UNF to a first set victory.

UNF was faced with several large deficits late into the second set, including an eight-point hole when ETSU used a five-point run to go up 21-13. Although the Ospreys clipped the Bucs' lead down to five, it was not enough as ETSU ended the set on a Hardy kill and evened the match at 1-1.

In the third set, a costly five-point run gave ETSU a two-point 20-18 advantage. However, UNF knotted it up at 20-all on a Claessens kill. That was as close as the Ospreys could get as ETSU had a three-point spurt that broke the tie and distanced the Bucs from UNF.

UNF battled from being down late in the fourth set. A kill from Jenkins sparked a critical six-point Osprey run that made it a 21-19 set in favor of ETSU. UNF fought hard for the last points of the set. Facing match point, a kill from Medina kept the Ospreys alive, while a crucial Marija Pantovic kill tied it at 24-24. However, ETSU capitalized on two Osprey miscues in order to halt UNF's rally and win the match.

The Ospreys opened a four-match homestand on Tuesday when they host Bethune-Cookman at 5 p.m. The match will also be UNF's Breast Cancer Awareness match and fans are encouraged to wear pink.