Volleyball Edged in Back-and-Forth Contest Against Troy

Friday, September 9

Birmingham, Ala.

5 p.m. (EST)

University of North Florida

Troy

Photo by: Brock Borgeson

9/9/2022 9:05:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

White Puts Up 18 Kills, UNF to Face UAB Tomorrow

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Volleyball's match with Troy (3-4) took 25 tie scores, 14 lead changes and over two hours to decide a winner, although UNF was edged in its UAB Invitational opener against the Trojans, 3-1, Friday, Sept. 9.

Friday's contest was a rematch of the NIVC Second Round played in Troy, Ala., last December. Mahalia White continued to stand out with 18 kills, seven of which came in the first set for UNF (1-5).

White has posted 44 kills across the six-first sets played this year.

UNF 1, Troy 3 (23-25, 25-23, 18-25, 20-25)

Inside the Sets

Set 1: Troy created a 6-2 lead that it did not surrender as the Trojans took the opening frame … White stunted Troy's early pace with a pair of kills, although Troy's serving aided in their lead throughout the middle of the session … White continued her tear in the first frames of matches as she posted seven kills … it was Kailey McKnight that tied the match for the first time since the early going, knotting things up at 17-17 … after a Troy timeout, the Trojans regained the lead and fended UNF off despite North Florida hitting .269 to Troy's .160.
Set 2: The second set followed a similar narrative but ended in UNF's favor, with the Ospreys winning a crucial second set by the same score as Troy took the first … the Trojans created a 5-3 lead early that they held through the majority of the frame … Troy took a 16-13 lead, but McKnight capped a 6-3 UNF run with a kill to tie it at 19-19 … for the second time in as many frames, the set was tied 20-20 … two UNF kills along with a Troy service error, attack error and bad set allowed the Ospreys to win the set … both squads had 11 kills.
Set 3: Consecutive kills gave UNF a 7-6 lead … McKnight had her turn at consecutive kills, putting the Ospreys up 11-10 … the Trojans used a 3-0 run to establish a lead … Troy finished the set by hitting .357, going up 2-1.
Set 4: UNF rattled off its best start to a set all night, going up 6-2 … Solimar Cestero and Maddie Boyd went for kills … Troy rallied to tie things, 7-7 … Jenna Zimmermann dropped in an ace to give UNF a 9-8 lead … UNF teamed up for back-to-back kills, giving UNF a 12-9 lead, forcing a Troy timeout … a service error and UNF attack error cut it back to, 12-11 … Troy put up three-straight kills to take a 14-13 lead, but Cestero rebutted with one of her own to tie things 14-14 … Troy put up a 3-0 run to go up 17-14 as it held a lead the rest of the way.

Leaders By the Numbers
UNF

Mahalia White | 18 kills, .297 hitting percentage
Kailey McKnight | 9 kills, .292 hitting percentage, 8 digs
Jenna Zimmermann | 20 assists
Rocio Moro | 17 digs

Troy

Tori Hester | 18 kills, .438 hitting percentage, 4 aces, 2 blocks
Amara Anderson | 21 assists, 8 digs

Postmatch Comments

Head Coach Kristen Wright following the weekend opener against Troy. #OSPREYWay // #MAXOUT pic.twitter.com/Cq0Op4KcK7
— UNF Volleyball (@OspreyVB) September 10, 2022