On Saturday, the University of North Florida volleyball team lost at home to Bellarmine by a set count of 3-1. Graduate outside hitter Kailey McKnight led the Ospreys with 15 kills, tying her season high. Freshman opposite hitter Kendall Newbold and junior middle blocker Yarimar Francis Garay tallied 11 kills each, while freshman setter Sofia Dawson led the way in assists with 29.
Set 1
The Ospreys got off to a strong start, collecting points via kills from McKnight, Dawson and junior outside hitter Kaili Doctor to build an early 7-5 lead. Freshman outside hitter Leah McDonald added two consecutive kills to finish off a 5-0 run that forced the Knights to call a timeout.
Bellarmine battled back, centering their offense around outside hitter Mya White, who collected three kills to cut the Osprey lead to 13-8. From there, the Knights continued to inch closer with kills from middle blocker Erika Smith and outside hitter Natalie Bland keeping the set close. The Knights managed to get within two points of the Ospreys, forcing the UNF coaching staff to call a timeout with the score at 21-19.
Coming out of the break, the Ospreys collected two quick kills: a powerful spike from Newbold and a well placed spike from McKnight to avoid the blocking wall set up by Bellarmine. This forced the Knights coaching staff to call a timeout, with the Ospreys holding a 23-19 lead.
After that, North Florida was able to close out the set with kills from Mcknight and senior middle blocker Kierstyn McFall, by a final score of 25-20.
Set 2
Much like the first set, UNF got off to a quick start, jumping out to a 5-0 lead thanks to three consecutive kills by McKnight, as well as blocks by Garay and Newbold. However, the Knights battled back quickly, tallying kills from Smith and an ace by outside hitter Abby Julius. Combined with some mistakes by the Osprey attack, Bellarmine took an 8-7 lead, forcing the UNF coaching staff to call a timeout.
The set remained close, with the Ospreys building a small lead courtesy of kills from Newbold, McKnight and junior outside hitter Kaili Doctor. The kill by Doctor was a lob shot that was placed over the Knights blocking wall of Smith and outside hitter Kylie Van Hoy, which prompted the Bellarmine coaching staff to call a timeout with the Ospreys ahead by a score of 18-16.
Coming out of the break, unforced attacking errors hurt the Ospreys. Bellarmine battled back to tie the set up at 22-22 off of misplaced spikes and some well timed kills from White and middle blocker Sarah Turner. A quick 3-0 run from that moment sealed the second set for Bellarmine, with the final point being won thanks to a mishit spike from Garay.
Set 3
The third set began as a neck-and-neck affair, with both sides battling to a 7-7 tie early. Then, a 5-1 run from Bellarmine that included kills by Turner and Van Hoy, forcing the Osprey coaching staff to call a timeout.
It was more of the same coming out of the break, with the Knights this time putting together a 6-1 run with kills from Smith, Van Hoy and setter Lillie Meinhart, forcing another timeout call from the UNF bench.
Although the Ospreys tried to come back with a late surge featuring kills by Garay, McKnight, Newbold and freshman outside hitter Leah McDonald, it proved to be too big of a deficit. With Bellarmine on a set point, Smith hit a spike that appeared to go out of bounds. However, after the officials reviewed the play, the point was awarded to the Knights, giving them the 25-22 set win.
Set 4
It was impossible to separate the two sides early in the fourth set. Both teams fought to a 12-12 tie, with fluid attacking play coming from either side of the net. Thanks to blocks from Doctor, Garay and McFall, the Ospreys were able to build some momentum and force a timeout call from the Bellarmine bench after building a 17-15 lead.
The Knights responded well, rattling off a 4-1 run that saw them take a 19-18 lead coming out of the break. Bellarmine maintained that lead for the rest of the set, thanks to blocks by Turner and Smith, as well as kills from Meinhart and Van Hoy. The Knights finished off the 25-22 set win on an ace by libero Tessa Nauert, securing the match in the process.
Post-game Thoughts
After the game, assistant coach Brandon Row reflected on the loss, highlighting serves as an area for improvement moving forward.
“”I think we’ve lost a little bit of our serving touch,” Row said. “That’s something we really pride ourselves in, is being top three in the ASUN (Atlantic Sun) in service aces per set. We’ve got to get back to that.”
Row also expressed optimism for the future as the team heads south for a key road trip for ASUN positioning.
“I think our girls fought extremely hard,” he said. “They did well on the offensive side of the ball, just a few too many untimely errors in the clutch.”
Up Next
The Ospreys travel down to Ft. Myers to take on FGCU Friday, Oct. 24. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Alico Arena. The game will be available to be streamed via ESPN+.
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