UNF-USF Boxscore (PDF)UNF-Alabama A&M Boxscore (PDF) MIAMI, Fla. – University of North Florida volleyball finished season-opening weekend with a split on Day 2 of the Panther Challenge held at FIU Arena. UNF dropped a 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-17) match to USF in the morning, but rebounded with a dominating 3-0 (25-7, 25-16, 25-14) sweep of Alabama A&M.
"We started off slow and we were unable to gain momentum in the first match, but our team responded well after a tough loss and worked together for the win in the second match," said head coach Steve Loeswick. "We're looking forward to getting back into the gym and working hard for the next tournament."
UNF went 2-1 for the weekend, marking the fourth time in program history in which the Ospreys finished season-opening weekend with a .500 winning percentage or better.
The Ospreys return to action next weekend when they travel to Knoxville, Tenn., for the Dish Tennessee Volleyball Classic. UNF begins the two-day tournament on Friday with matches against Tennessee Tech (Noon) and Eastern Kentucky (4:30 p.m.). The tournament concludes for the Ospreys on Saturday against host Tennessee (10 a.m.) and UNC Greensboro (4:30 p.m.)
USF 3, UNF 0UNF was unable to overcome a consistent-hitting USF team and was swept in three sets.
Tessa Alyman recorded 10 kills, while
Abby Fesl and
Carinne Turner each had 13 assists.
Kimberly Ferguson made nine digs.
Alexus Heidelberg paced the Bulls behind a .769 attack percentage, connecting on 11 kills off 13 total attack and only one error. Dakota Hampton registered a match-best 13 kills. Molly Burkhardt put up 27 assists and Wylie Devlin tallied 25 digs.
UNF hit .232 with 31 kills and tallied 363 digs.
USF hit .320 and made 46 kills. The Bulls also had nine aces and 52 digs.
UNF had to contend with a hot-hitting USF team from the start. The Bulls hit .439 for the first hit, tallying 21 kills off 41 total attack and only making three errors. Meanwhile, UNF hit .256 for the set, but only had 13 kills. After a back-and-forth start, USF strung together consecutive points several times in order to pull away. UNF trailed by as many seven late, but came back to make it a four-point set after a Bull attack error. However, two Osprey miscues gave USF its final two points.
With UNF down 19-18 in the second set, USF went on a 5-2 run to take a 24-20 lead. Kills from Alyman and
Courtney Miller kept the Ospreys alive in the set, but Heidelberg tallied the set-winning kill.
An early 9-1 USF run put UNF down 15-6. During that run, five of the Bulls points came on service aces. Although UNF battled back, the Ospreys could only pull to within six on four separate occasions.
UNF 3, Alabama A&M 0Katarina Raicevic paced the Ospreys with 11 kills and a .429 hitting percentage through three sets. Meanwhile, in one set,
Tessa Alyman hit .625 with five kills off eight attack and no errors as the Ospreys finished out the weekend with a 3-0 sweep of Alabama A&M.
UNF came out on fire, hitting .565 (15 kills, 23 total attack, two errors) in the first set, while limiting the Lady Bulldogs to only five kills in the set. The Ospreys scored consecutive points on five of the six service rotations that occurred in the set.
The second set was closer as the Ospreys did not pull away until the end. Up 18-16, a kill from Raicevic sparked a set-ending seven-point run.
UNF led from start to finish in the third set. The Ospreys went up by nine on an Alabama A&M attack error made it 18-9. UNF continued to overpower the Lady Bulldogs and ultimately finished the set on a 5-1 run.
Morgan Van Alstine had three kills during that span.
