Career Evenings Help Volleyball Outlast Georgia Southern, 3-2

Tuesday, September 17

Jacksonville, Fla.

6 p.m.

University of North Florida

5-6

Georgia Southern

4-4

Ga. Southern

North Florida

Career Evenings Help Volleyball Outlast Georgia Southern, 3-2

9/17/2019 9:54:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Dixon, Griffey Notch Career Highs in Kills

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The North Florida volleyball team was lifted by career highs in kills from Taryn Griffey and Emma Dixon as the Ospreys (5-6) outlasted Georgia Southern (4-4), 3-2, in an arduous match from UNF Arena Tuesday, September 17.

Griffey collected 19 kills, one more than her career best, and Dixon posted 11 to go along with a game-high six blocks. Dixon tied her career high in kills with 11. Redshirt-junior Gabby O'Connell chipped in with her fourth double-double of the season, collecting 13 kills and 12 digs.

UNF 3, Georgia Southern 2 (25-16, 19-25, 25-18, 27-29, 15-9)

Inside the Sets

Set 1: UNF gained a 9-5 lead from a thunderous Griffey kill … The advantage expanded to 12-6, forcing a Georgia Southern timeout … UNF ran away with the rest of the set, forcing a timeout at 17-8 … Solimar Cestero and Grifey tallied a combined six kills.
Set 2: The Eagles bounced back quickly, leading 16-13 at the first timeout … GSU was lifted by a match-high .423 hitting percentage to even things up.
Set 3: UNF got out to a 6-3 early lead out of the five-point intermission … UNF hit a .333 clip and never trailed, getting the 2-1 set lead.
Set 4: The Ospreys opened up the fourth set trailing GSU, 7-3 … UNF took its first lead at 13-12 on a Griffey kill … GSU spurned a 4-0 run to tie things at 17 … The momentum shifted back when Dixon and Cestero provided a block, knotting things up at 21 … UNF took a 23-22 lead on an O'Connell set on an over ball that landed for a kill … GSU staved off three match points to force a fifth set.
Set 5: The Ospreys took control early in the fourth set, leading 8-2 before switching sides of the court … UNF hit .364 and held GSU to a .143 clip in the decisive set.

Leaders By the Numbers
UNF

Griffey | 19 kills, .417 hitting percentage
Cestero | 15 kills, .364 hitting percentage, six blocks
Dixon | 11 kills, six blocks
Rocio Moro | 13 digs
Alessia Venturelli | 11 digs, three aces
Julianna Askew | 54 assists

Georgia Southern

Carly Turner | 11 kills
Landon Jones | 16 digs
Skylar Ball | 10 kills, three blocks
Madison Brown | 41 assists, three aces

Notes

UNF is 4-3 at home this season
It's UNF's first midweek victory of 2019.
The Ospreys aren't home again until October 4 against FGCU.
It's UNF's second-consecutive five-set match.
UNF and GSU are tied at five wins apiece in the all-time series.
Cestero has posted double-digit kills in six matches and five in a row. The sophomore notched a season high with six blocks.
It was UNF's first match with double-digit team blocks of the season.
Four Ospreys posted double figures in digs, spearheaded by Moro's 13.
There were 25 tie scores and 11 lead changes.
Venturelli had her first double-digit dig outing.

Wright's Words
"Emma was key and really stepped up in the clutch," head coach Kristen Wright said. "She's someone that wants to be a go-to, so I challenged her and we kept feeding her the ball and she really came through. I was really proud of our middles tonight. It was good for our confidence to get over the hump and we just have to keep pressing on into this weekend."

Up Next
UNF completes its regular season-tournament schedule when it heads to Starkville, Miss.,for the Hail State Invitational Thursday, Sept. 19 and Friday, Sept. 20.