The Ospreys have put their early-season struggles in the rear-view mirror with dominant victories over Queens on Friday and West Georgia on Saturday to extend their winning streak to four games.
With those results, UNF currently occupies the eighth and final Atlantic Sun (ASUN) championship playoff spot with two games left in the regular season.
vs Queens
The Ospreys got off to a rocky start in the first set vs the Royals, finding themselves down 7-2 due to unforced attack errors. UNF didn’t let that start slow them down, however, as they continued to battle with kills coming courtesy of graduate outside hitter Kailey McKnight and junior outside hitter Janelly Ceopa.
Eventually, UNF was able to take a slim 15-14 lead after taking three consecutive points, with the run being capped off by another kill by McKnight. The Ospreys capitalized on the momentum shift, as kills from freshman outside hitter Kendall Newbold and senior middle blocker Kierstyn McFall extended their lead.
From there, the Ospreys maintained full control of the set. Newbold and McKnight continued to prove difficult for the Queens defense to stop, and Ceopa collected the final kill to give UNF the first set by a final of 25-19.
After starting the second set with a 7-4 deficit, the Ospreys roared back with seven unanswered points to take a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. The 7-0 run included kills from McKnight, McFall and junior outside hitter Kaili Doctor. Capitalizing on that momentum, UNF took the second set dominantly, by a final score of 25-17.
The next set was the closest of the night, with both teams locked even at 19 points apiece, before the Ospreys took the lead on a kill from Doctor. Queens battled back to tie the set again at 21, but North Florida went on a quick 4-0 run to take the set and the match, 25-21.
Newbold and Doctor led the way for the Ospreys offensively with eight kills each. Reigning ASUN setter of the week, freshman Sofia Dawson, led all players on the court with 18 assists.
vs West Georgia
After the two sides began the first set tied at six points apiece, Ceopa’s two aces helped spark a 5-0 run that put UNF permanently ahead.
The two sides traded points back and forth, with the Osprey attack being led by McKnight and junior middle blocker Yarimar Francis Garay. McKnight closed the set with two consecutive aces to give North Florida the 25-15 set win.
The Wolves fought back in the second set, jumping out to a 6-3 lead on the back of strong attacking play from outside hitter Molly Brunell and setter Addy Franz. The Ospreys didn’t let the slow start hold them back for long, as they ripped a quick 3-0 run thanks to kills from Doctor and McKnight.
From there, the Ospreys slowly pulled away, gradually putting more and more distance between themselves and West Georgia, until Newbold linked up with a set from Dawson to finish off the 25-19 set win.
The closest set of the night began with the largest Wolves lead of the match, with the blocking tandem of outside hitter Rylee Henderson and middle blocker Sanai Young giving the Osprey attackers headaches and leading the Wolves to a 9-5 lead.
UNF fought their way back into the set at a measured pace, with Dawson and freshman setter Evelina Gerogianna spreading the ball to all of the different Osprey attackers to keep the West Georgia defense guessing.
UNF took an 18-17 lead late in the set on a rare mistake from Henderson. With the Ospreys holding onto a slim 24-23 lead, McFall and Doctor came up clutch, blocking an attempted spike from Henderson to seal the set and the match.
Post-Game Thoughts
After the match against West Georgia, assistant coach Brandon Row reflected on the performance, noting how well the team had been behind the service line during the recent winning streak.
“Serving has become our mantra as a team,” he said. “We’re creating a lot of out-of-system situations on the other side of the net and we’re able to capitalize with our block defense.”
From Row’s perspective, a lot of the Ospreys’ recent success has come down to the next-man-up mentality that has been drilled into the team by the UNF coaching staff.
“Against JU it was Kailey [McKnight] going off and having a career night, getting to 1000 career kills,” he said. “Against North Alabama you had Evelina [Gerogianni] and Kaili [Doctor]… they became an offensive weapon for us to seal that match. You have a match like last night [vs Queens] where it’s a full spread for everybody, and then tonight, Leah McDonald comes in and gets a clutch kill. If our main group is struggling, we have people in the right place to do the job.”
Up Next
The Ospreys welcome Stetson to UNF Arena on Friday, Nov. 14 for a matchup with major playoff implications, with the two sides neck and neck in the standings. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. The match will be available to stream on ESPN+.
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