Volleyball Drops Finale at UCSB

Sunday, August 27

Santa Barbara, Calif.

5 p.m. (EST)

University of North Florida

1-2,0-0ASUN

UC Santa Barbara

3-0,0-0Big West

North Florida

UC Santa Barbara

Kyla Solis and Kierstyn McFall going up for a block at the net

Solis and McFall had five combined blocks.

Photo by: Gary Kim

8/27/2023 10:59:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - UNF volleyball turned it on late, hitting .387 with 15 kills in the final frame, but Santa Barbara held on in the third and won in three as the Ospreys (1-2) dropped the finale of the Thunderdome Classic to the host UCSB Gauchos (3-0) Sunday, Aug. 27.

Kailey McKnight was honored with her first-career all-tournament team honor for her play this weekend. The outside hitter posted 36 kills for 3.6 kills/set, going for matches of 16, 13 and seven kills respectively.

UCSB 3, North Florida 0 (18-25, 15-25, 23-25)

Inside the Sets

Set 1: UCSB got a comfortable edge towards the middle of the frame, hitting .478 to establish a one-set lead.
Set 2: Just as McKnight started the first set with an ace, the junior opened the session with a kill … North Florida had the lead again at 2-1, but UCSB tied it and held on to the lead from there to win frame two.
Set 3: Despite trailing 18-13, UNF caught fire late, hitting a match-high .387 to push UCSB to the brink … a kill from Maddie Boyd, three UCSB errors and a crafty kill from setter Kelly Negron helped UNF to a 5-0 run and an 18-18 tie … the Gauchos and Ospreys were entangled in three more tie scores, including a 23-23 deadlock … UCSB concluded the match with consecutive kills.

Leaders By the Numbers
UNF

Kailey McKnight | 7 kills, 5 digs
Annie Antar | 24 assists
Kyla Solis | 5 kills, 3 blocks

UCSB

Andi Kreiling | 12 kills, .800 hitting percentage, 2 blocks
Milan Rex | 16 assists, 2 aces
Macall Peed | 12 digs, 3 aces

Notes

It was the first-ever meeting between UNF and UCSB
North Florida played 14 student-athletes for the third-straight match
Rylee Moorhead made her UNF debut, recording one kill
McKnight earned her first-career all-tournament team honor
Kyla Solis earned her first start at UNF and notched five kills

Postmatch Comments from Coach Wright

.@CoachKWright12 follows up after the finale in California against UCSB. #OSPREYWay pic.twitter.com/YDV8yy1gwF
— UNF Volleyball (@OspreyVB) August 28, 2023