North Florida Volleyball sweeps Stetson at UNF Arena
October 29, 2017
Coming off of a five-set thriller the night before, North Florida volleyball (11-16 overall, 3-7 ASUN) swept the Stetson Hatters (3-19 overall,2-8 ASUN) in three-straight sets at the UNF Arena on Oct. 28.
The Ospreys came out of the gate fast as freshman Devyn Wheeler slammed three kills early in addition to a pair of aces from senior Katarina Raicevic to push a 12-5 lead over the Hatters.
With a forced time out, Stetson looked to regroup and pulled the score within four in two separate instances, before the UNF closed the set 25-21.
In the second set, the Ospreys continued to jump out quick, and used the offensive power of Wheeler’s four kills to seal the set 25-16.
For the third and final set, UNF dominated once again early over their ASUN foe in front of their home crowd. Wheeler added to her stats with six more kills for the night.
While the Ospreys had a .407 in the set, the Hatters had their lowest of the night at .150.
Stetson never lead in any of the sets.
Wheeler ended her night with 20 kills and 13 digs for a .459 hitting percentage. This is her second match with at least 20 kills. She is the first player since 2010 to have back-to-back matches with 20 kills.
Wheeler said the team maintained their energy from start to finish while playing aggressive after losing senior teammate Carina Hoff. She has recently stepped up to fill an offense void left by Hoff.
“I just kept swinging, hitting certain shots, to try to get the other team out of system and so just making smart shots and playing with confident is important in winning,” Wheeler said.
Taryn Griffey, finished with 12 kills, 3 aces and 3 blocks to help with the Ospreys’ explosive offense. Carinne Turner provided 41 assists and 7 digs in the matchup while teammate Ashley LaBorde made 10 digs. LaBorde is only 10 away from having a 1,000 career digs.
Head coach Steve Loeswick and his staff stressed the importance of this matchup because of the teams being tied at two wins apiece.
“They came pretty focused and executed our game plan,” Loeswick said. “We did a really nice job serving, and getting them out of system, which allowed some really nice transition opportunities for us.”
North Florida heads on the road to face Kennesaw State and Lipscomb, starting Nov.3.
__
For more information or news tips, or if you see an error in this story or have any compliments or concerns, contact editor@unfspinnaker.com.
