Volleyball Concludes Challenging Weekend Against Auburn

Sunday, September 11

Birmingham, Ala.

1 p.m. (EST)

University of North Florida

1-7,0-0ASUN

Auburn

8-0,0-0SEC

North Florida

Auburn

UNF tied its longest road stretch to start the season, a run of eight games, its most since 2016.

Photo by: Brock Borgeson

9/11/2022 2:49:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Ospreys Drop Sunday’s Match, North Florida’s Fifth Contest Against Power Five Foes

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - North Florida finished its weekend at the UAB Invitational by continuing its gauntlet against Power Five teams as the Ospreys dropped Sunday's match against an undefeated Auburn (8-0) program, 3-0, Sept. 11.

For UNF (1-7), it's their fifth match against a Power Five foe on the year and second against an SEC team on the season.

UNF 0, AUBURN 3 (18-25, 16-25, 19-25)

Inside the Sets

Set 1: Mackenzie Piester posted consecutive kills to tie it early and Kailey McKnight dropped in an ace to give UNF a 7-6 lead … Auburn went on a 3-1 run to go up 16-13, forcing UNF to take a timeout as the Tigers created their biggest lead of the first frame … a kill by Piester, her third of the set, got UNF within two … Auburn went on a 7-2 run the rest of the way to close out the first session.
Set 2: Neither team could find an offensive groove early, with both teams hitting under .000 … Maddie Boyd continued her strong weekend on the block, stuffing an Auburn attack to give UNF a 7-6 lead … Auburn ran off a 4-0 run with the help of two aces, taking a 10-8 lead … Auburn was held to .200 hitting but was able to post six more kills than the Ospreys as UNF dropped the second.
Set 3: UNF responded with a 3-0 run out of the gates, getting a kill from Solimar Cestero while forcing Auburn into a pair of attack errors … the Tigers replied with their own 3-0 clip to tie it up … UNF regained the lead with a 3-0 run, using kills from Mahalia White, McKnight and Jenna Zimmermann … Amy Burkhardt served up consecutive aces to bring UNF to a 13-10 lead … the Ospreys ran out to their largest lead of the match, holding a 16-12 advantage, forcing Auburn into a timeout … Auburn came back with a 4-0 run to tie the set up, 16-16, before taking the lead on a UNF attack error … the Tigers closed the set on an 8-3 run from there.

Leaders By the Numbers
UNF

Mahalia White | 9 kills, 1 block
Rocio Moro | 15 digs
Jenna Zimmermann | 22 assists, 7 digs
Amy Burkhardt | 2 aces

AUBURN

Akasha Anderson | 15 kills, .344 hitting percentage, 5 digs
Sarah Morton | 16 digs
Jackie Barrett | 28 assists, 10 digs, 3 blocks

Notes

White has posted at least five kills in the first set in seven of the eight matches so far this season.
It was UNF's second match against an SEC team on the year.
Auburn and UNF met for the first time.
North Florida has played five matches against Power Five teams this year.
Cestero appeared in her 120th match as an Osprey. She moved into seventh in UNF's DI history for matches played after the three-match weekend.
UNF has now played eight matches away from home to start the season, tying its longest such stint since 2016.

Postmatch Comments

.@CoachKWright12 recaps our fifth match against a Power 5 team on the year and looks forward on the week leading up to our trip to Iowa. #OSPREYWay // #MAXOUT pic.twitter.com/qaFtddcqSp
— UNF Volleyball (@OspreyVB) September 11, 2022