Volleyball’s Block Party Fuels a Five-Set Win Against South Dakota State

Saturday, September 17

Coralville, Iowa

12 p.m. (EST)

University of North Florida

2-9,0-0ASUN

South Dakota State

6-6,0-0Summit League

South Dakota St.

North Florida

UNF's 14.5 blocks was its most in a single game since 2018.

Volleyball’s Block Party Fuels a Five-Set Win Against South Dakota State

9/17/2022 3:33:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Ospreys Go For 14.5 Blocks, Their Most in Over Four Years

CORALVILLE, Iowa - UNF volleyball's first five-set match of 2022 featured a box score with some eye-popping digits as the Ospreys were lifted by 14.5 blocks in 3-2 slugfest win against South Dakota State (6-6) Saturday, Sept. 17.

North Florida (2-9) had four Ospreys with double-digit kills for the first time this season. The Ospreys' block total was their highest since posting 16 in a five-set win against North Dakota Sept. 10, 2018.

Amy Burkhardt made the most of her second-career start, tallying a career-high 13 kills, while Mahalia White led the way with 14 kills and a career-best seven blocks.

UNF 3, SDSU 2 (25-17, 25-19, 20-25, 26-28, 15-9)

Inside the Sets

Set 1: After four tie scores, Rocio Moro dropped in an ace for UNF's first lead, a 5-4 advantage … Mahalia White and Solimar Cestero posted consecutive kills and Savannah Cook tallied an ace for an 8-5 UNF lead … a South Dakota State attack error and a Kailey McKnight kill gave UNF a 10-5 lead … South Dakota State would take the match's first timeout … SDSU rallied with a 4-0 run out of the timeout … UNF's offense stayed balanced, keeping the Jackrabbits from getting into a rhythm … up 17-13, block assists from Maddie Boyd, Kailey McKnight and White pushed the lead to 19-13 and took the air out of a SDSU comeback in the first … seven different Ospreys had at least one kill in the first
Set 2: UNF carried its momentum into the second set, going up 3-0 … whenever South Dakota State recorded a point, UNF was right there to respond, preventing the Jackrabbits from getting any momentum … Mahalia White found her groove early in the second and UNF continued to block well, going up 10-5 … South Dakota State managed to get within two at 10-8, but McFall came through with a kill to push the lead back to three … the Jackrabbits finally did tie the set, 11-11, but a poor SDSU serve and another ace from Moro brought UNF's lead back to two … South Dakota State took its first lead at 15-14 after a service ace … UNF ran off a 4-0 run to go up 19-18 … UNF uncorked a 5-0 run to close the set, getting points in a variety of ways.
Set 3: Momentum shifts ensued to start the third … South Dakota State started the set on a 4-0 run, but Kierstyn McFall and White teamed up on a block to complete a 3-0 run … South Dakota State would have pulled ahead, 6-3, but a successful challenge by UNF brought the deficit to 5-4 … the Ospreys took their first lead at 8-7, getting a block by Amy Burkhardt and Maddie Boyd … the block was sandwiched in the middle of a 4-0 UNF run as the Ospreys took a 10-7 lead and forced South Dakota State into a timeout … South Dakota State posted a 3-0 run to tie it again, but Amy Burkhardt came through on a solo block for the 11-10 lead … SDSU's Crystal Burk went on a 3-0 run alone, bringing South Dakota State to a 17-13 lead … Savannah Cook provided an ace to get UNF within 19-18, but South Dakota State rolled the rest of the way to a 25-20 win.
Set 4: A 4-0 run keyed by White and Boyd on the block and attack gave UNF a 7-3 lead … SDSU had its best run of the early parts of the set, going on a 4-0 run to tie up the set, 11-11 … UNF wiggled ahead, 16-14, after a South Dakota State service error and a Solimar Cestero kill … UNF led by as many as three late, but SDSU rallied to force a fifth set with a 28-26 win.
Set 5: The set was tied 6-6, but UNF's offensive efficiency came through when it needed it the most … the Ospreys hit .500 for the frame, posting 11 kills with just two errors as North Florida held SDSU to four kills in the fourth.

Leaders By the Numbers
UNF

Mahalia White | 14 kills, .480 hitting percentage, 7 blocks
Amy Burkhardt | 13 kills
Solimar Cestero | 12 kills, .429 hitting percentage
Kailey McKnight | 11 kills, 7 digs, 2 blocks, 2 assists
Jenna Zimmermann | 28 assists
Rocio moro | 25 digs, 9 assists, 2 aces

SDSU

Crystal Burk | 24 kills, 9 errors, 54 attacks, 16 digs
Raegen Reilly | 53 assists, 10 digs
Ella Thompson | 14 kills, .440 hitting percentage
Elyse Winter | 9 kills, 3 aces, 8 digs

Notes

The last time these two teams faced off was nearly four years ago to the date as UNF took on South Dakota State Sept. 14, 2018 in Boca Raton, Fla.
Burkhardt made her second-career start and first start of the season.
The match is the final non-conference neutral site match of the year.
UNF has two non-conference matches remaining, both of which come against non-conference teams based in Florida.
White surpassed her previous career high for blocks by four.
White tallied her eighth double-digit kill performance of the year.
UNF reached 10 blocks as a team for the first time this year and the first time since a road win at Troy Dec. 4, 2021 in the NIVC Championship Second Round.
Six different Ospreys had at least one block for the second time in as many matches.
Maddie Boyd has notched a block in every match this year. She set a season high in Saturday's match.
It was UNF's first five-set match of the season.
UNF tallied its most blocks in a single match since Sept. 10, 2018 against North Dakota.
Moro's 25 digs was a season high and her most since going for 30 in the 2021 season finale at UConn.
Burkhardt bested her career-high for kills by five. Her previous highwater mark was eight set at FAU in her first weekend of volleyball last August.
UNF paces the all-time series, 2-1.
UNF is 2-0 this year when hitting over .300 this year.
Moro set a career high for assists with nine.
North Florida had 25 block assists.
UNF had four players with double-digit kills for the first time since Oct. 30 at Stetson.
Cestero moved into ninth in UNF history for kills. She has 1,097 after passing Maegan Weisert (1083).
Moro inches closer to the UNF digs record. She has 1,791, 138 behind Nicole Baran.
Setters Jenna Zimmermann and Savannah Cook combined for 46 assists.
Boyd set a career high for block assists with eight. She tied her career high for total blocks as well.

Postmatch Comments

Head Coach @CoachKWright12 summarizes the five-set win and touches on the balanced play by the Ospreys today.

UNF opens ASUN play vs. FGCU this Friday at Jacksonville University's Swisher Gymnasium. pic.twitter.com/B7hoGj1GON
— UNF Volleyball (@OspreyVB) September 17, 2022