Ospreys Open Sand Volleyball Home Slate with 4-1 Win over FAU

Friday, March 30

Jacksonville Beach, Fla.

10 am

University of North Florida

FAU

Ospreys Open Sand Volleyball Home Slate with 4-1 Win over FAU

3/30/2012 4:41:00 PM | Beach Volleyball

JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. – The North Florida sand volleyball team made an impressive home debut Friday morning posting a 4-1 win over in-state foe FAU at the Jacksonville Beach sand courts.

With the win, UNF improves to 4-2 on the year in dual matches and now turns its attention to tournament play. The Ospreys host six other collegiate teams for the two-day UNF Sand Invitational presented by Chicago Pizza and Metro PCS on Saturday and Sunday.

“We were glad to open our home schedule with a solid win today,” said UNF head coach Steve Loeswick. “I'm proud of the way our team played against FAU. We competed and earned an important victory. Our team loves playing at the Jacksonville Beach courts and we are looking forward to having a tremendous tournament this weekend. We encourage all the Osprey fans to come out and enjoy a great weekend of action.”

UNF earned the first point of the match when the squad's No. 4 pair of Nicole Baran and Alison Shirley, the reigning Atlantic Sun Conference pair of the week, posted a straight set 2-0 (21-12, 21-9) victory.

The Owls answered with their only point of the match claiming a win at the No. 5 spot. Cintia Nightingale and Thacilli Pereira edged the UNF pair of Marija Pantovic and Kelsey Smith in two sets (21-18, 21-17).

North Florida grabbed wins at tandems No. 1-3 to secure the dual match victory. UNF No. 2 pair of Carolyn Jenkins and Julie Trembley posted a 2-0 (21-16, 21-7) sweep as did the Ospreys' No. 3 pairing of Paige Pridgeon and Britt Claessens (21-7, 21-13).

The match closed with the No. 1 pairs treating fans to a thrilling three-set contest. The FAU duo took the first set 21-19 before UNF's team of Dagnija Medina and Emily Strack answered with a 21-12 win in set two. Medina/Strack completed the comeback rally winning set three, 15-12.

The UNF Sand Invitational is a two-day event featuring pool play on Saturday followed by bracket play on Sunday. Saturday's competition features seven pools of five teams. The top two finishers in each pool along with the top two third place finishers advance to gold bracket play on Sunday. A 12-team silver bracket and seven-team bronze bracket will also be contested Sunday.

Tournament play begins both days at 9 a.m. at the Jacksonville Beach courts, located just south of the Pier. Admission to the event is free and open to the public. Spectators are encouraged to bring their own beach chairs or towels events. Teams participating in the tournament include: UNF, Jacksonville, FAU, Florida State, UAB, College of Charleston and Hawaii.

Following this weekend's action, North Florida closes its inaugural season of sand volleyball Apr. 20-22 at the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament hosted by Jacksonville University.