Boxscore (PDF)Tournament Central MIAMI, Fla. – University of North Florida volleyball served up 10 aces, six coming from
Kimberly Ferguson, as the Ospreys opened the season and the Panther Challenge with a 3-1 (25-23, 17-25, 26-24, 25-18) victory over host FIU on Friday night at FIU Arena.
"It was a good first match for us," said head coach
Steve Loeswick. "FIU did some things that pressured us a bit and I liked the way our team responded. This is the deepest team we have had, which allowed us to make changes throughout the match. I really believe we are going to use a lot of lineups all year long."
Ferguson's six aces were a career high and tied the fifth-highest mark in program history for a four-set match. The Ospreys got one ace apiece from
Tessa Alyman,
Ashley LaBorde,
Carinne Turner and
Morgan Van Alstine.
Alyman recorded her first career double-double with 15 kills and 10 digs. Alyman's 10 digs were a career high and she was one kill shy of tying her career high. Newcomer
Katarina Raicevic tallied 10 kills in her Osprey debut.
Abby Fesl put up 25 assists, while Ferguson and
Ambre Desaulnay tallied 17 and 11 digs, respectively. Van Alstine came up with eight total blocks.
UNF hit .209 for the match, making 50 kills. The Ospreys also had 13.0 blocks and 62 digs for the match.
Lina Bernier recorded a 10-kill, 17-dig double-double, while Katie Friesen added a 42-assist, 16-dig double-double for the Panthers. Lucia Castro and Jennifer Ene tallied 15 and 12 kills. Maria McLamb also had 17 digs.
FIU made 55 kills and hit .178 for the match. The Panthers tallied 65 digs.
FIU led for much of the first set, but the Ospreys made a strong comeback to edge out the Panthers. Down 18-15, a kill from Alyman sparked a momentum-shifting five-point run as the Ospreys took a 20-18 lead. UNF gained several late three-point advantages, including at 24-21 when
Ambre Desaulnay moved the Ospreys to set point. A kill from Katie Hogan and an Osprey attack error kept FIU alive, but
Carina Hoff had the set-winning kill to give UNF a 1-0 lead in the match.
UNF led early in the second set, but two significant FIU spurts resulted in the Panthers pulling away for the second-set victory. As UNF was up 13-6 after Van Alstine's ace, an Ene kill was the first of four-straight FIU points as the Panthers made it 13-12 in favor of UNF. Although a kill from Alyman halted that run, FIU answered with the next point and used an Osprey attack error to jumpstart an eight-point spurt to go up 20-14. UNF cut the lead down to four, but FIU scored four-consecutive points to win the set.
A late rally allowed UNF to come back in the third set. Trailing 21-16, a kill from Alyman sparked a critical run that tied the set.
Erin Edwards and Raicevic came up with a huge block that made it 21-21. The Ospreys' blocking abilities is what won them the set as they used blocks for the final two points. Tied at 24-24, Van Alstine and Turner's block put UNF at set point, while Alyman's solo stop sealed the set win.
UNF cruised to a fourth-set victory, stringing together points on most service rotations. UNF went up by as many as eight multiple times, including at 21-13 on an Alyman kill. UNF went on to win the match behind a Raicevic kill.
The Ospreys conclude season-opening weekend at the Panther Challenge with two matches. UNF faces USF at 10 a.m., and then Alabama A&M at 4 p.m.
