JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida volleyball (11-11, 4-4 ASUN) had a 14-point advantage at the service line while posting 12 aces for the second night in a row, but the visiting Bellarmine Knights (8-12, 6-2 ASUN) had the advantage on the attack as UNF came up just short in a two-hour and 30-minute five-setter against Bellarmine Saturday, Oct. 14. 

McKnight went for her eighth double-double while also posting seven aces, tying the UNF single match aces record for a five-set contest. 

All told, North Florida and Bellarmine played to 31 tie scores and 14 lead changes. 

UNF 2, Bellarmine 3 (25-23, 23-25, 25-16, 18-25, 10-15)

Inside the Sets

• Set 1: Bellarmine had the lead early, starting off the match with a 4-0 lead … Maddie Boyd heated up with three early kills and McKnight got in on the action with a solo block on the outside to get within one … UNF would tie at 11-11 and 14-14, but Bellarmine held a 15-14 advantage at the media timeout … the Knights pushed their lead to 21-18 before North Florida rallied to tie it, 21-21 … McKnight capped the set with an ace.
• Set 2: The second frame saw a match-high 12 tie scores and seven lead changes … McKnight put UNF up, 3-1, with an exquisite out of system kill … the lead grew to 5-1 but Bellarmine rattled off a 4-0 run to force a tie … Janelly Ceopa put up an ace for an 11-10 lead and McKnight tallied another kill from Mahalia White with the assist … UNF and Bellarmine went into the media timeout with the same 14-15 score in favor of the Knights … UNF's first service error of the match allowed Bellarmine to tie it up, 17-17 … the set saw two more tie scores before Bellarmine won its own 25-23 decision.
• Set 3: A run on McKnight's serve helped UNF to a 7-3 lead as Bellarmine took a timeout … Bellarmine rallied to tie things up, 10-10, but UNF retaliated with a 6-1 run as UNF held Bellarmine to .049 hitting in a set three win.
• Set 4: Two overpass kills in the span of three points gave UNF a 7-5 lead in the first frame … McKnight posted an ace to give UNF a 10-8 advantage … Bellarmine dropped in its own ace for an 11-10 lead, going on a 3-0 run for a three-point advantage … the Knights stayed ahead to get even after four frames.
• Set 5: North Florida raced ahead to a 4-0 lead, forcing Bellarmine into a timeout … the Knights roared back with a 5-0 run out of the break … the Knights went on to win 10 of the next 16 points, hitting .391 in the fifth frame to take the match.

Leaders By the Numbers
BELL

• Venard & Purichia | 11 kills
• Macie Garrison | 29 assists, 10 digs
• Kylie VanHoy | 9 kills, 20 assists, 15 digs

UNF

• Kailey McKnight | 15 kills, 14 digs, 7 aces
• Rocio Moro | 19 digs, 7 assists
• Kelly Negron | 18 assists, 9 digs
• Annie Antar | 17 assists, 11 digs

Postgame Comments
 

.@CoachKWright12 breaks down UNF's sixth five-set match of the year, a two and a half hour contest against Bellarmine #OSPREYWay pic.twitter.com/wIlMfnlzai

— UNF Volleyball (@OspreyVB) October 14, 2023

Notes

• North Florida played in its sixth five-set match of the season
• UNF is 2-1 all-time vs. Bellarmine
• North Florida dropped its first match of October
• McKnight posted her eighth double-double of the season
• McKnight's seven aces tied Kaley Read for the most assists by an Osprey in a five-set match during the program's DI era. Read reached that feat Sept. 7, 2007 against FAU
• McKnight's ace total is good for fourth all-time in a five-set frame.
• Antar went for her sixth double-double of the season.

Up Next
North Florida plays the final four matches of October on the road, beginning with a contest at North Alabama Friday, Oct. 20.