Final Boxscore (pdf)DeLAND, Fla. – The North Florida volleyball team rallied from an 0-2 deficit to earn a thrilling five-set road victory Saturday afternoon over Stetson at the Edmunds Center.
The Ospreys, who improved to 18-9 overall and 4-6 in the Atlantic Sun, were down after falling 25-19 and 25-23 in the opening sets to the Hatters (10-14, 4-6 ASun). UNF turned things around with a dominant 25-13 third set win and the completed the comeback with a 25-20 win in set four and a 15-9 victory in the deciding set.
The victory snapped a four-match conference skid for the Ospreys and also upped their five-set record for the season to 6-1.
Katrina Raicevic led a quartet of players with double-digit kills finishing with 15 kills and a .353 hitting performance.
Courtney Miller and
Carina Hoff each added 13 kills while
Tessa Alyman chipped in 11 for the victory.
As a team, UNF hit .292 for the match highlighted by a pair of .500 or better marks in set 3 (.571) and set 5 (.500). In those decisive sets, the Ospreys collected 24 kills in 41 attempts with just two hitting errors. The setting duo of
Abby Fesl (31) and
Carinne Turner (22) combined for 53 assists.
Defensively, the Ospreys dominated play at the net finishing with 16 team blocks and holding the Hatters to just a .149 hitting performance. Raicevic and
Morgan Van Alstine led the charge posting seven blocks each, while
Erin Edwards added six and Alyman had four including three solos.
Ashley LaBorde finished with a career high 28 digs in helping UNF earn a 72-61 advantage in the back row.
Stetson led for most of the opening set, using a 9-2 run midway through the frame to grab the momentum needed to claim the 1-0 lead. SU hit .326 in the set while holding the Ospreys to a .195 performance.
The Ospreys held a lead for much of the second set, moving in front by as many as five points before Stetson battled back to earn a tie, 20-20. The set turned into a sideout competition from there with the Hatters finally collecting back-to-back points for the slim 25-23 win.
A rejuvenated Osprey squad hit the court in set three as UNF raced out to the early 7-3 lead. North Florida broke things open in the set as the team earned six straight points on the serve of Fesl to grab the 15-7 advantage. UNF pushed the lead to double digits moments later and cruised to the 25-13 win.
After some early back-and-forth play in the set four, UNF slowly began building a slight lead eventually moving in front, 20-16. The Ospreys and Hatters traded side outs the rest of the stanza and a pair of kills from Hoff closed the frame in favor of UNF.
The Ospreys used a pair of early blocks by Van Alstine and Raicevic to grab the momentum in set five. A pair of Alyman kills put UNF in front 8-4. Another kill by Alyman moments later pushed the Ospreys to match point, 14-8, and then the senior closed it out after a final point from Stetson.
North Florida will continue its final regular season road swing next weekend as the Ospreys hit the road for matches at NJIT on Nov. 6 and Lipscomb on Nov. 8.
