North Florida’s volleyball racked up back-to-back losses on the road to conference foes Kennesaw State Owls and Lipscomb Bisons.

Recent offensive spark Devyn Wheeler went into the weekend matchups with the honors of ASUN Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week under her belt.

In the weekend’s first road test,the Ospreys lost in straight set to first-place Kennesaw State(16-4, ASUN 10-1) Nov. 3rd. During the tight set, junior defensive specialist Ashley LaBorde passed the 1000 digs plateau.

The first set remained close up until it reached 13 on the scoreboard, then the Owls started to distance themselves from the Ospreys. Despite a last minute UNF’s 4-0 run, they still fell 25-22.   

Kennesaw State continued to roll in the second set with an early blowout during their 10-4 run. They closed out the set, 25-14.

After the break, the final set was a back-and-forth battle with over 10 ties. Kennesaw went on an 8-3 run, but UNF had one of their own and tied the set at 24. It was not enough and the Ospreys lost the set, 26-24.

Head coach Steve Loeswick was proud of the effort and fight.

“Even with some offensive struggles, we found ourselves in a couple of really tight sets,” said Coach Loeswick.

Taryn Griffey and Madilyn McCarty had 8 kills apiece during the lost.  

The Ospreys continued their road journey the following night in Nashville to suffer a similar fate in a different arena.

North Florida lost in three-straight set to Lipscomb(14-11, 7-5 ASUN).

In the first set, the Ospreys took a 16-12 lead. However, the Bisons responded with a 7-3 run and tied the score at 19. The home team eventually take the match, 25-23.

In the tight second set, there was 22 ties until Lipscomb went on a 3 point run to close out a 25-22 victory.

Lipscomb didn’t allow North Florida to stay close in the final set and took it 25-14.While the Bisons had a dominating .483 hitting percentage they held the Ospreys to only a .083 percentage in for the set.

Wheeler led the team in kills with 10 during the Lipscomb’s matchup.

Even with the losses this weekend, Loeswick stayed optimistic.

“We are excited to get back in the gym and make some small adjustments and get ready for next weekend at home,” Loeswick said.

North Florida return to the UNF Arena for senior weekend as they face USC Upstate and NJIT beginning Nov. 10 at 7 p.m.

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