Boxscore (PDF) TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – University of North Florida volleyball fought back for a 3-2 (21-25, 25-18, 19-25, 25-18, 15-13) victory at Florida A&M on Tuesday evening at the Al Lawson Center as the Ospreys pushed their winning streak to four matches.
"We played a lot of people tonight and I was happy with how those coming in off the bench performed," said head coach Steve Loeswick. "Road wins are not easy to come by. Our team had to battled back from a fifth set deficit and I was proud of the focus and effort our team had at the end to pull it out."
Battling close and with the first set tied at 18-18, Florida A&M went on a late four-point run take was sparked by a Pamela Soriano kill. A kill from
Courtney Miller halted the Rattlers' run and UNF used a Florida A&M attack error to come to within two. After trading service errors, a Soriano kill won the set for Florida A&M.
UNF came back with a strong second set, hitting .417 with 18 kills. The Ospreys went up by five, using a Rattler attack error to go up 20-15. Consecutive kills allowed Florida A&M to cut UNF's lead down to three, but UNF answered with three-straight points and held a 23-17 advantage. The Ospreys eventually capitalized on a Florida A&M attack error to win the set and tie the match at 1-1.
Florida A&M led from start to finish in the third set. UNF attempted to battle back from several five-point deficits and brought the Rattlers' lead down to four on a
Morgan Van Alstine-
Carina Hoff block. Florida A&M answered with a three-point run to take a 23-16 lead. UNF answered with a three-point spurt of their own, but a Rattler kill and block gave Florida A&M the set win.
Another strong set propelled the Ospreys to a fourth set victory. UNF gained a seven-point, 17-10 lead on a Florida A&M attack error. UNF maintained a seven-point advantage for much of the set, using a
Cameron McGuire kill to win the set and force a decisive fifth set.
UNF fell behind quickly in the fifth set as Florida A&M took advantage of several Osprey attack errors to go up 7-1. The Ospreys fought back and, behind three separate three-point runs, took a 13-12 lead on a key Van Alstine-McGuire block. Coming out of a timeout, Florida A&M got a kill from Soriano to tie the set at 13-13. A kill from McGuire put UNF up by one and the Ospreys' clinched the win as a Rattler attack sailed long.
Tessa Alyman led the Ospreys with 14 kills, while McGuire and Miller each had 12 kills.
Abby Fesl put up 37 assists, while
Cari Whitmire made 19 digs.
UNF hit .238 for the match with 66 kills and 56 digs.
Soriano led Florida A&M with a 26-kill, 11-dig double-double. Valeria Lopez made 46 assists. Joanie Del Castillo tallied 23 digs, while Sydni Etheredge had 10 digs.
Florida A&M hit .205 and recorded 55 kills and 63 digs.
UNF returns to its home court on Friday as the Ospreys open the second half of Atlantic Sun play against cross-town rival Jacksonville in the River City Rumble. The first 350 students at the volleyball match will receive a free t-shirt. Additionally, a ticket purchased a volleyball can be used to gain admission into the women's soccer game against Jacksonville later on Friday.
Match time against Jacksonville is set for 6 p.m., at UNF Arena.
