Boxscore (PDF)
 
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – University of North Florida volleyball played Atlantic Sun leader Lipscomb tough, but was unable to hold off the Lady Bisons, falling 3-2 (19-25, 25-18, 19-25, 25-21, 20-18) on Saturday afternoon at Allen Arena.
 
"What a battle," said head coach Steve Loeswick. "I'm proud of how our girls fought for the second night in a row. Our level of play is the best it's been all year. They stepped it up this weekend and really showed what this team is capable of doing."
 
Strong hitting by the Ospreys and poor hitting by Lipscomb powered UNF to a first-set victory. The Ospreys hit .333 compared to the Lady Bisons' .049. Down by one, UNF went on a 5-0 run to go up 15-11. Lipscomb came to within three on two occasions, including at 19-16, but a block from Carina Hoff and Erin Edwards was the first of three-straight points that gave UNF a 22-16 advantage. Points traded between the two teams before a Tessa Alyman kill was the set winner.
 
Poor hitting plagued UNF in the second set as Lipscomb came back to tie the match at 1-1. The Lady Bisons pulled away with an early 6-1 run to go up 14-8. The Ospreys trimmed Lipscomb's lead down to three, taking advantage of a Lipscomb attack error to make it 18-15. Lipscomb answered with a three-point run. UNF could only get to within for fours for the remainder of the set as a Molly Spitnagle kill gave the Lady Bisons the win.
 
Down by three in the third set, UNF fought back and scored five-straight points to gain a 16-14 lead. Carinne Turner served an ace that provided the Ospreys with the two-point advantage. UNF would later extend its lead to four behind back-to-back Courtney Miller kills to make it 20-16. The Ospreys went on to win the set, capitalizing on a Lady Bisons' attack error to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
Although UNF battled, the Ospreys were unable to overcome several Lipscomb runs. After the Lady Bisons had a four-point lead, UNF responded with a 5-1 run to make it a one-point 15-14 set. Lipscomb answered with a three-point run to regain a four-point lead and go up 18-14. The Lady Bisons' used another three-point spurt late in the set to pull away. UNF fended off three set points, but Lipscomb forced a fifth set on an Osprey ball handling error.
 
A four-point run provided UNF with a 10-7 advantage in the fifth set. Lipscomb managed to erase UNF's lead and took a 12-11 lead on a Kayla Ostrom-Molly Spitznagle block. A kill from Cameron McGuire forced a 12-12 tie as the teams traded points and battled for control. The Ospreys fended off five match points. However, Lipscomb kills from Spitznagle and Katie Bradley were the last two points of the match.
 
Courtney Miller recorded a 15-kill, 12-dig double-double, while Cameron McGuire and Tessa Alyman added 13 and 10 kills, respectively. Cari Whitmire made a season-best 29 digs, marking her fifth-straight weekend with a 20+dig match. Whitmire has made 25-or-more digs in three of the last four matches.
 
UNF hit. 150 and made 51 kills and 15.0 blocks.
 
A trio of Lady Bisons – Brittnay Estes, Spitznagle and Lauren Ford – each made 14 kills, while Sophie Kellerman added 10. Estes and Kellerman each had 14 digs for a kill-dig double-double. Kayla Ostrom tallied a 49-assist, 10-dig double-double. Bri McCombs made 17 digs.
 
Lipscomb hit .172 and made 61 kills.
 
UNF returns to action on Tuesday at Bethune-Cookman, which concludes a six-match road swing. Match time is set for 7 p.m., at Moore Gymnasium.