Boxscore (PDF)
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – University of North Florida volleyball finished home-opening weekend with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-13, 25-16) sweep of Mississippi Valley State on Saturday afternoon at UNF Arena.
"It was an important match," said head coach Steve Loeswick. "We had a long match last night against FAU. I talked to the team today about the importance of playing at a high level and to make sure we get a little better. We did a nice job at that."
Freshmen
Erin Edwards and
Morgan Van Alstine powered the Osprey offense, who hit .307 as a team and had 38 kills. Edwards hit .571 for the match, registering eight kills on 14 total attack and no errors. Van Alstine had seven kills on 12 total attack and one error for a .500 hitting percentage. Van Alstine also had four blocks.
Britt Claessens put up 17 assists, while
Abby Fesl added 13. Fesl and
Kayla Fessler each dug six balls.
Halee Clark led Mississippi Valley State with seven kills. Athena Abary put up nine assists. Abary and Rodriguez each had nine digs. The Devilettes made 21 kills and hit .026.
The first set started out close and Mississippi Valley State held an early 10-8 lead. However, a kill from Van Alstine started a 5-0 run that allowed UNF to take a 13-10 advantage. UNF continued to pull away and went up 18-13 when
Carina Hoff's kill sparked a three-point run. The Ospreys ultimately won the set on a Fesl service ace in order to go up 1-0 in the match.
The second set was all UNF as a pair of 5-0 runs quickly separated the Ospreys from Mississippi Valley State. Another Van Alstine kill sparked the first five-point run as UNF was up 6-1. A few points later,
Saelina Dunn started the Ospreys' second five-point run, which included two service aces from Claessens and saw UNF take a 12-5 lead. UNF went on to lead by as much as 12 on four occasions in the final stretch of points, including when Edwards had the match-winning kill (25-13) to put UNF up 2-0 in the match.
In the third set, UNF pulled away from the Devilettes with a 6-0 run midway through the set. With the Ospreys up 12-10, a Dunn kill sparked the six-point run that led to an 18-10 UNF advantage. The Ospreys went up by as many as 10 in the set, taking a 21-11 lead on a Dunn ace. UNF ultimately clinched the set and the match on a Claessens dump.
UNF returns to action on Tuesday, kicking off a six-match road swing at Florida A&M. Match time is set for 7 p.m., at the Al Lawson Center.
