Volleyball Blitzes Bucs, Splits Final Day of Gators Invite

Saturday, August 27

Gainesville, Fla.

10 a.m.

University of North Florida

0-2

Virginia

2-0

VIRGINIA

North Florida

kailey mcknight going up to make an attack

McKnight went for 12 kills in the win against ETSU.

8/27/2022 7:05:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Ospreys Hit .420 in Win Against ETSU

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - North Florida volleyball (1-2) capped the season-opening weekend in Gainesville with a clinical sweep of ETSU (0-3), splitting the final day at the Gators Invite after dropping the first match of the day to Virginia (2-0).

Newcomer Mahalia White picked up where she left off Friday night, adding 27 kills to her weekend total over the two matches Saturday.

A total of 14 different Ospreys saw time Saturday, with Mackenzie Piester making her first-career start in the win against ETSU. The California native was spotless, hitting .600 with six kills.

Mya Sopata and Alannah Nelson also made their respective UNF debuts. Maymie Guthrie made her first start in the match against Virginia. Kailey McKnight notched 12 kills against ETSU, two kills shy of her career high.

UNF 0, UVA 3 (23-25, 21-25, 22-25)
Inside the Sets

Set 1: The first set lasted nearly 35 minutes as the frame saw eight tie scores and three lead changes … the Cavs would end up slipping by the Ospreys, 25-23 … UNF hit .324 with 17 kills, while UVA notched 13 kills on .294 hitting … White posted seven kills … North Florida led by as much as 17-13 after a 4-0 run, although UVA would eventually tie it 19-19 … the Cavs scored the final two points of the set to break a 23-23 tie.
Set 2: The second frame followed a similar theme, with UNF establishing an early advantage and keeping UVA at bay for the first half of the frame … the Cavaliers rattled off a 9-0 run to overcome their 20-14 deficit as UVA took the second session.
Set 3: UNF turned out an early lead once again, getting out to a 6-2 advantage before UF cut into the UNF lead and got within 6-5 … four points was the largest lead for either side in the third set, with UNF leading 12-8 … UVA chipped away and evened the set up 14-14 … White notched a kill to give the Ospreys a 23-22 lead, although a service error from UNF and two UVA kills concluded the match.

Leaders By the Numbers
UNF

Mahalia White | 15 kills, .303 hitting percentage
Jenna Zimmermann | 29 assists
Rocio Moro | 13 digs
Maddie Boyd & Kierstyn McFall | 4 blocks

UVA

Jayna Francis | 13 kills
Ashley Le | 24 assists
Grace Turner | 11 digs, 4 digs
Madison Morey | 12 digs

UNF 3, ETSU 0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-12)

Inside the Sets

Set 1: North Florida was scorching hot offensively, hitting .500 with 19 of the 25 points coming from kills … White tallied seven of her own and Kailey McKnight put up four.
Set 2: Despite a late ETSU rally that cut UNF's four-point lead to one at 20-19, UNF won a key challenge and got a late push from three more kills from White to win the match.
Set 3: A trio of Ospreys in White, McKnight and Piester posted three kills in the third set and McKnight added two aces … UNF hit .474 and held ETSU to the negatives in a dominant finale frame.

Leaders By the Numbers
UNF

Mahalia White | 15 kills, .619 hitting percentage
Kailey McKnight | 12 kills, 3 aces
Mackenzie Piester | 6 kills, .600 hitting percentage
Jenna Zimmermann | 38 assists
Maddie Boyd | 5 kills, 3 blocks

ETSU

Lauren Hatch | 7 kills
Caroline Dykes | 21 assists

Postgame Comments

48 kills and 4.80 per set on the weekend - hear @mahaliawhite_ following the sweep! #MAXOUT pic.twitter.com/vHWavvB9Mc
— UNF Volleyball (@OspreyVB) August 27, 2022

The first win of 2022 saw the Ospreys hit .420 with 46 kills. Hear from @CoachKWright12 ? pic.twitter.com/1QiGgzkCRy
— UNF Volleyball (@OspreyVB) August 27, 2022

Notes

Guthrie made her first-career start in the match vs. UVA.
UNF has faced an ACC four-straight years after taking on Virginia Tech, Clemson and Wake Forest in each of the last four seasons. It's the first time UNF hasn't hosted one of those matches.
Sopata made her UNF debut in the second set against UVA
Piester made her UNF debut and first-career start in the match against ETSU.
UNF picked up its fifth-ever win against ETSU in series history.
McKnight was two kills shy of her career high.
UNF's .420 hitting percentage in the ETSU match was its highest since Aug. 30, 2019 against Charleston Southern.

Up Next
UNF opens up the UCF Challenge against Kansas State Friday, Sept. 2 at 4:30 p.m. in Orlando.