UNF-Tennessee Boxscore (PDF) KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – University of North Florida volleyball finished competition at the Dish Tennessee Volleyball Classic with a pair of losses on Saturday. The Ospreys dropped a 3-1 (25-19, 25-13, 19-25, 25-19) match to host Tennessee to start the day and then finished it with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-17, 25-19) setback to UNC Greensboro at Thompson-Boiling Arena.
"Today was a tough day," said head coach
Steve Loeswick. "We played two challenging opponents who were able to put a lot of pressure on our serve receive. We still fought hard, but need to be a little more consistent and discipline with our defense. We will get in the gym and make sure we are ready for our home-opening matches next weekend."
Tennessee 3, UNF 1Ambre Desaulnay notched her first career double-double with 16 kills and 14 digs and hit an impressive .412 during the Ospreys' first match of the day.
Tessa Alyman added 14 kills, while
Abby Fesl put up 37 assists.
Kimberly Ferguson notched 17 digs and
Morgan Van Alstine recorded five block assists.
UNF hit .184 and tallied 47 kills and 52 digs. The team also tallied 7.0 blocks.
A trio of Volunteers had double-digit kills with Kanisha Jimenez recording a team-best 16 kills. Bri Holmes had 15 kills, while Erica Treiber added 10 kills and six blocks. Lexi Dempsey tallied a 45-assist, 10-dig double-double and Bridgette Villano made 15 digs. Raina Hembry tallied seven blocks.
Tennessee hit .256 with 51 kills and 58 digs. The Vols totaled 13.0 team blocks.
UNF lead early in the first set and had a 13-11 lead after a Tennessee attack error. However, a Jimenez kill on the next point sparked a 4-0 run that put Tennessee up 15-13. UNF attempted to stay close and was within one point after a Fesl ace, but then saw Tennessee go on a costly six-point run as the Vols went up 24-18. Although UNF stayed alive with a Vol attack error, an Osprey service miscue gave Tennessee the set-winning point.
In the second set, Tennessee went on an nine-point run midway through the set in order to take a 20-8 lead. A kill from
Katarina Raicevic halted the Vol run and was the first off three-straight Osprey points. However, Tennessee went on to capture five of the set's last seven points.
UNF had its best hitting performance in the third set as the Ospreys hit .333 with 16 kills. Meanwhile, Tennessee hit just .105. UNF used multiple runs to swing the momentum to its favor midway through the set. Down by two, the Osprey used four consecutive points to gain a 14-12 advantage. UNF pushed its lead to five as a Raicevic kill made it 21-16. Desaulnay ultimately had the last three points of the set alone, allowing UNF to win the set and make it a 2-1 match.
An early Tennessee run had UNF in a five-point deficit as the Vols were up 13-8 after an Osprey attack error. UNF attempt to chip away at Tennessee's lead and pulled to within three. A block from Desaulnay and Van Alstine made it a 15-12 set in favor of Tennessee. That was the closest the Ospreys could get as the Vols were able to score back-to-back points on several occasions.
UNC Greensboro 3, UNF 0UNF faced a consistent hitting UNC Greensboro team and was swept in three sets.
Tessa Alyman paced the Ospreys with eight kills.
Abby Fesl put up 33 assists, while
Kimberly Ferguson made 15 digs.
UNF hit .155 with 36 kills and 44 digs.
Both Jessica Brezwyn and Ashley Muench recorded 15 kills and .387 hitting percentages. Jasmine Jones added in a .455 hitting percentage in order to help the Spartans to a .266 attack percentage for the match. Allison Penner tallied 35 assists. Katherine Santiago made 13 digs.
The Spartans made 43 kills and 50 digs.
In the first set, UNF saw the Spartans attempt to pull away midway through the set with a six-point run lifting them to an 18-12 lead. The Ospreys fought back and cut the deficit down to two as a
Katarina Raicevic kill made it 23-21 in favor of the Spartans. After the teams traded service errors, UNC Greensboro recorded the set-winning point with a block from Julia Westerbur and Muench.
Two late UNC Greensboro runs were costly to the Ospreys in the second set. With UNF down by one, an Osprey blocking error was the first of four-straight Spartan points, putting UNC Greensboro up 19-15. After exchanging points, UNC Greensboro ultimately got five of the set's last six points.
The third set started close with 12 ties and seven lead changes. However, another UNC Greensboro run resulted in the Ospreys trailing by five. With UNF up by one, a kill from Brezwyn started a five-point Spartan run that lifted them to a 20-15 lead. The Ospreys saw the deficit eventually grow to seven as UNC Greensboro went up 23-17 on a Muench block. Muench ultimately had the match-winning kill as well.
UNF returns to action next weekend at UNF Arena with the Courtyard Mayo Classic. The Ospreys host Bethune-Cookman at Noon and Campbell at 7 p.m., on Friday and Florida Atlantic at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
