UNF volleyball picked up their first Atlantic Sun Conference win of the season against USC Upstate Sept. 19 in their home opening match.
UNF won the battle of teams who came in winless in A-Sun play in three sets (25-22, 25-20, 25-13), after losing four consecutive away matches, in which they only won three sets overall.
The first set began with an attack error by Upstate middle-blocker Morgan Thomas which junior outside-hitter Danielle Lerch and freshman middleblocker Marjia Pantovic followed with a defensive block, earning UNF the first point of the set.
UNF junior middle-blocker Kaley Read and Lerch attacked the ball consistently throughout the match, combining for a total 35 kills.
The Ospreys never fell behind in the first set, leading by as much as five points with a score of 22-17. Freshman outside hitter Paige Pridgeon tallied back-to-back kills to help give the Ospreys the first set 25-22.
Entering the second set, UNF maintained momentum collecting the first four points, which included kills from both Lerch and Read. UNF lost their lead briefly but regained it with an attack by Read and assist by junior setter Jessica Catelano which broke a 17-17 tie. Read followed with three straight kills to spark an 8-3 for UNF to give them the set.
After opening the third set up to a 11-11 tie, UNF went on a 12-2 run to put away the match.
Catelano showed her skill with a superior performance, leading UNF in assists owning 43 of the 48 total for the match.
UNF was also led by Lerch with 18 kills trailed closely by Read with 17, Catelano in assist and Pridgeon with 10 digs.
Spartan middle-blocker Morgan Thomas and outside-hitter Erin Jacobsen tied with nine kills for the match. Other Spartan leaders were Emily Sanders, earning 27 assists and libero Megan Healey who accumulated 11 digs.
“I am extremely proud of everyone’s performances in the today’s game. This is the kind of game that they needed,” UNF Head Coach Kevin Campbell said.
UNF’s next match will be at home Sept. 25 versus fellow Atlantic Sun Conference team Stetson.
