Volleyball’s Scrappy Effort Falls Short at Lipscomb

Friday, September 30

Nashville, Tenn.

7 p.m. (EST)

University of North Florida

3-11,1-2ASUN

Lipscomb

6-8,3-0ASUN

North Florida

Lipscomb

Guthrie had nine assists and five digs in the return to her home state.

Photo by: Jeremiah Wilson

9/30/2022 9:32:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Ospreys Go Deep in Depth Chart in Weekend Opener

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - North Florida volleyball opened its weekend at Lipscomb with a unique lineup, getting an all-out effort across the roster despite suffering a road-trip opening loss to the Bisons, 3-0, in the latest iteration of 31-match series history Friday, Sept. 30.

Shorthanded, the Ospreys still sent 11 different student-athletes to the court, getting a 23-dig and eight-assist outing from Rocio Moro, but the Bisons got a balanced offensive effort to defend their home court.

UNF 0, LIP 3 (21-25, 17-25, 17-25)

Inside the Sets

Set 1: UNF (3-11, 1-2 ASUN) never took the lead in the first but put up an efficient set offensively, committing only two attack errors while hitting .273 … Lipscomb (6-8, 3-0 ASUN) was strong on the service line, posting four aces, although the Ospreys forced the Bisons into seven attack errors as UNF stood tall throughout the first frame … LU took a 3-0 lead and increased it to 6-1 after a service error was challenged and reversed back to a service ace in favor of the Bisons … the Ospreys defense put together a staunch effort, helping UNF go on a 4-0 run to tie things up, 13-13 … a Solimar Cestero and Kierstyn McFall block tied things at 15-15 once more, although a key 3-0 run by Lipscomb late helped the Bisons create some space and hang on.
Set 2: The second session was tight early … a Kailey McKnight kill evened things, 4-4, but Lipscomb quickly created separation that it held the rest of the way … a 5-1 run provided Lipscomb a 9-5 lead, with an additional four kills and two aces for the hosts providing the difference in the second … Mahalia White, McKnight and Amy Burkhardt all had four kills through two frames, while Moro reached 18 digs through just two sessions.
Set 3: UNF started the third set with a creative alignment to its lineup, with Moro and Maymie Guthrie in their respective new positions for the first time as Ospreys … Lipscomb established a lead with a run out of the gates in the third frame … North Florida generated some success on the block and with the serve to get within striking distance … after a pair of aces, one from Maddie Boyd and the other from White, UNF cut its deficit to 15-13 at the media timeout … the Bisons saved one of its best runs for late to take the session.

Leaders By the Numbers
UNF

Rocio Moro | 23 digs, 8 assists
Mahalia White | 8 kills, 2 blocks
Maymie Guthrie | 9 assists, 5 digs
Maddie Boyd | 4 blocks

LIP

Meg Mersman | 11 kills, .450 hitting
Sophia Hudepohl | 36 assists, 8 digs
Delaney Smith | 21 digs

Notes

Cook earned her first-career start.
Guthrie made an appearance back in her home state.
This was UNF's first match against Lipscomb in Nashville since Oct. 20, 2019.
UNF and Lipscomb met for the 31st time. The last four meetings have been split between Jacksonville, Fla., Fort Myers, Fla. and Kennesaw, Ga.
White paced the Ospreys in kills for the 14th time on the season.
Three Ospreys had at least eight assists, with Guthrie leading the way with a career-best nine assists.
Moro was one assist short of her career high of nine helpers. The libero assumed the setting role in the final frame as Guthrie took over at libero.
Moro is only 80 digs shy of the all-time digs record at UNF.
McKnight is just one kill short of 300 for her UNF tenure.
It was Moro's third 20-dig effort in four matches.
UNF has led the match in blocks for six-straight matches.