JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida volleyball's match against North Alabama Sunday, Oct. 9 was a tale of two matches. After dropping the first two sets, UNF unlocked another gear, catalyzing a reverse sweep, 3-2, win against the Lions (12-6, 2-4 ASUN) behind career efforts up and down the North Florida lineup.
Five different Ospreys posted double-digit digs,
Rocio Moro was clinical with 30 digs and
Solimar Cestero and
Kailey McKnight teamed up for a pair of monstrous double-doubles as the Ospreys tallied their second reverse sweep win on the year.
Crucial to UNF's comeback was the effort by the UNF (5-12, 3-3 ASUN) freshmen. Setter
Savannah Cook posted her first-career double with career highs in assists, 54, and digs, 12.
Maymie Guthrie fortified UNF's defensive effort, posting a career-best 11 digs, while
Kierstyn McFall notched her second double-digit kill day in as many contests with 11 kills on .304 hitting.
UNF cracked the code defensively and offensively as the match went on, holding the Lions to under .235 hitting for the final three frames, after North Alabama hit at least .300 in the first two. UNA came into the match with the fourth-best opponents' hitting percentage in the nation, although UNF overcame that hurdle, hitting 70 points better than North Alabama's match average.
Moro rocketed past 1,900 digs in the match and also moved just seven digs shy of passing Nicole Baran for the all-time digs record at North Florida. Cestero posted nine more kills than her previous season high, finishing just five digs short of her career best. The outside hitter tallied the fifth double-double of her career and the first of the season. She is now seventh all-time in the UNF sets played record books, needing just two more sets to pass Jackie Struck.
McKnight posted the fourth double-double of her season and career, while Cook was the first Osprey to reach the 50 assist marker since Sept. 25, 2021 against Jacksonville State. Her 54 assists is the most since former high school teammate,
Julianna Askew, posted 57 against Stetson March 20, 2021.
Just a match prior to that contest against Stetson, North Florida had five Ospreys notch double-digit digs in one contest. Today, North Florida achieved that feat yet again, getting such efforts from Cestero, McKnight, Moro, Cook and Guthrie. All told, UNF posted 87 digs, 19 more than its previous high for the year, set just two days earlier against Central Arkansas.
Sunday's match was played at Jacksonville University's Swisher Gymnasium as the UNF Arena continues to undergo renovations.
UNF 3, UNA 2 (19-25, 20-25, 25-15, 25-18, 15-13)
Inside the Sets
- Set 1: Tied 10-10, UNA posted a 4-0 run to go up for good … UNF got within two, trailing 15-13, but the Lions never relinquished the first set lead from then on out … UNA hit .300, while the Ospreys had one greater kill than North Alabama but were held to .216 on the attack.
- Set 2: After a quiet set on the block between two teams with a propensity to do so, the blocking kicked up in the second frame … after a couple of overpass kills ignited the UNF offense, cutting the UNA lead to 17-16, the Lions rattled off a 4-0 run to take the momentum and head to a two-set lead.
- Set 3: The tide turned in the third frame … UNF's massive 10-point advantage at the set's end came thanks to a variety of areas … UNF had two more kills, UNA put up a pair of ball handling errors, North Florida got one more block, three more aces and one fewer set error to put together what turned out to be a dominant third frame … ironically, both teams hit .231, with Cestero posting a set-best four kills.
- Set 4: McKnight was head and shoulders above the rest, both literally and figuratively, as her athleticism helped fuel her to six kills … neither team hit above .200 for the stanza, although North Florida never trailed and posted 16 kills to 10 for UNA.
- Set 5: North Florida and UNA were tied 2-2, but after Cestero posted a kill to put the Ospreys up one, UNF never let go of its advantage … despite never trailing in the final frame, UNA did make it interesting late, going on a 4-1 run to bring the match to 14-13 in favor of the Ospreys … McKnight put the match away with a kill as UNA stumbled under the net on the final play … Cestero and McKnight had five kills apiece in the win.
Leaders By the Numbers
UNF
UNA
- Anna Katherine Griggs | 14 kills, 5 blocks
- Ella Ratzloff | 19 digs
- Elif Ozsoy | 43 assists
Notes
- UNF is 3-1 in five-set matches this year.
- Each of the last two matches went to five sets.
- Three of the four matches played at the Swisher Gymnasium have gone to five sets.
- Moro posted the eighth thirty-dig match of her career and the first such contest since the NIVC Quarterfinals against UConn in the season finale of the 2021 season.
- UNF was outblocked for the first time since the Auburn match, Sept. 11.
- North Florida is 6-0 all-time against North Alabama.
- UNF finished two kills shy of its season high, reached in a five-setter against South Dakota State Sept. 17.
- McFall has hit over .300 in six of the last seven matches.
- McKnight has reached double-digit kills in three-straight matches. Her 18 kills is four greater than her career high. Her 17 digs is one greater than her previous career best.
- Three Ospreys had double-doubles.
Postmatch Comments
Up Next
UNF heads up to Charlotte, N.C., to face ASUN newcomer Queens Friday, Oct. 14 at 6 p.m.
