FORT MYERS, Fla. - Despite posting a better hitting percentage, more blocks and more digs than FGCU, UNF volleyball (12-16, 9-7 ASUN) was clipped by the Eagles (23-6, 13-3 ASUN) in its regular season finale in Fort Myers Sunday, Nov. 13.
Despite the loss, UNF finished with a 9-7 mark in league play, giving the Ospreys three-straight winning seasons in conference play for the first time in UNF's Division I history. The Ospreys finish the regular season as the seven seed in the 14-team league, with the top eight teams making ASUN postseason play. North Florida will take on FGCU again, this time in the ASUN Quarterfinals Thursday, Nov. 17 in Nashville.
Mahalia White closed out the regular season strong, finishing with a match-high 14-kill performance, concluding the regular season as the league leader in kills per set with 4.10.
UNF 0, FGCU 3 (19-25, 22-25, 23-25)
Inside the Sets
- Set 1: FGCU went on a 5-0 run to break a 7-7 tie as the Eagles pulled ahead and took the opening frame … UNF ushered FGCU into seven attack errors, but UNF was held to five kills in the first.
- Set 2: UNF tallied a better hitting percentage than the Eagles, forcing FGCU into six attack errors in the second set … UNF didn't trail by more than four, getting as close to tying things up as 22-21, but FGCU held on late.
- Set 3: The statistical anomalies continued in the third set as UNF hit a scorching .314 as a team, posting 16 kills while holding FGCU to just 12 … the lone difference in the stanza was an ace and a setting error as UNF came up just two points short … the Ospreys trailed late as FGCU had five-straight match points on the table … UNF erased four of them before FGCU finished the match off on a kill.
Leaders By the Numbers
UNF
FGCU
- Julianna Lentz | 9 kills, .412 hitting percentage
- Dana Axner | 11 digs, 4 assists
- Chelsey Lockey | 30 assists, 4 kills
Notes
- UNF and FGCU split the regular season series, 1-1.
- North Florida will now face FGCU in ASUN postseason play. The Ospreys and Eagles will meet in postseason play for consecutive seasons after playing each other in the semifinals a year ago.
- White has paced UNF in kills in 22 matches this season.
- Moro finished the regular season as the league leader in digs, the lone student-athlete in the ASUN with over 500 digs.
- White concluded the regular season as the league leader in kills per set and was just one kill short of Erin Shomaker for the league lead in kills.
- Jenna Zimmermann made her first appearance since Sept. 24 against Stetson.
- UNF has gone 8-4, 12-4 and now 9-7 in regular season-ASUN matches over the past three seasons, helping bring UNF to a 42-34 ASUN regular season-record during head coach Kristen Wright five-year tenure.
- UNF has had a winning record in ASUN league play for three-straight years, the first time in program history.
Up Next
UNF turns its attention to postseason play as the Ospreys are slated to face second-seeded FGCU in the ASUN Quarterfinals Thursday, Nov. 17 at 11 a.m. EST in Nashville, Tenn.
The entire ASUN Championship will be hosted by Lipscomb
