University of North Florida
8-14,2-7ASUN
Florida Gulf Coast
13-7,7-2ASUN
Volleyball Drops Gritty Road Match At Florida Gulf Coast
10/24/2025 8:30:00 PM | Volleyball
FORT MYERS, Fla. - North Florida volleyball showed relentless effort, but fell to Florida Gulf Coast, 3-1, at Alico Arena on Friday evening.
UNF 1, FGCU 3 (15-25, 21-25, 26-24, 24-26)
Set 1: North Florida junior middle blocker Yarimar Francis Garay was sensational, leading the way with four kills. Facing a 17-9 deficit, the Ospreys showed fight with a 4-1 run amid the set.
Set 2: An ace by freshman outside hitter and a pair of kills from Francis Garay and freshman opposite Kendall Newbold put North Florida ahead 3-2. A 6-1 surge from the Ospreys fueled by an ace and two kills by Newbold cut FGCU's advantage to 22-18. Though, a strong finish from the Eagles brought the set to its final margin.
Set 3: Trailing 23-20, North Florida showed no signs of giving up. The Ospreys scored five-straight points to close the set capped off by back-to-back kills by graduate outside hitter Janelly Ceopa. Ceopa also notched two blocks in the set.
Set 4: North Florida came out firing to a 12-7 lead, with three kills coming from Ceopa and a pair by Newbold. Redshirt freshman libero Julianna Santiago tallied back-to-back aces to extend the Ospreys' edge to 20-15. However, FGCU closed out the set on a 7-1 run.
LEADERS BY THE NUMBERS
UN
Kendall Newbold | 13 kills
Sofia Dawson | 32 assists
Julianna Santiago | 11 digs
FGCU
Julij Grubisic Cabo | 21 kills
Hanna Borer | 21 assists
Reese Burry | 12 digs
NOTES
- Newbold reached a team-high six kills with .625 hitting in set two.
- Dawson posted a match-high in assists with 32 total.
- Santiago notched a match-high in aces with three total.
- Ceopa added eight kills on a team-high .471 hitting.
- Newbold posted .346 hitting.
UP NEXT
North Florida will play its second in-state road match of the weekend at Stetson on Sunday, Oct. 26. First serve is set for 1 p.m.
