Video by: Brett Nweeia and Daniel Parker

Featured image by: Darvin Nelson

After losing the second and fourth set, the Ospreys rallied in the fifth set to secure the win against Georgia Southern.

Miriam Stingl opened up the first set with a kill for the early 1-0 lead. The Ospreys  maintained a solid lead throughout the match and won the set, 25-16. Taryn Griffey and Solimar Cestero each had three kills.

After losing the first set, the Eagles came back ready to battle for set two. It was a constant back-and-forth in the beginning of the set. The lead changed 17 times before either team had 10 points on the board. The Ospreys fought hard but ultimately fell short, in a 25-19 set loss. The team had a total of 14 kills in which Griffey contributed four.

Going into the third set, Griffey shared some motivational words with her teammates.

“This team should not be competing with us, we are so much better. We have all the pieces that we need, we just have to put them together,” Griffey said.

The Ospreys ended up putting the pieces together in the third set with a 25-18 win. Emma Dixon, Gabby O’Connell, Griffey and Cestero all had multiple kills throughout the set.

The Eagles wouldn’t go down easy as the lead changed 32 times throughout the fourth set. The Ospreys came up from behind and rallied to make the score, 16-12. However, the Eagles answered back and scored six points in a row. The set came down the line in a nail-biter for the first team to 29 points. After an attack error and a bad set from the Ospreys, the Eagles won 29-27 and forced a fifth set.

The Ospreys were cool, calm, and collected entering the final set. They rallied early in the match to secure a six-point lead that the Eagles were ultimately unable to catch up to. After two attack errors by Georgia Southern, the Ospreys won the fifth set, 15-9. The team had a total eight kills and three service aces to seal the match win.

UNF Volleyball Head Coach Kristen Wright mentioned that Griffey played one of the best matches of her career, leading the team with 19 kills.

“I knew it in serve and pass today, she was just focused and you could tell she was ready,” Coach Wright said.

This victory against Georgia Southern brings UNF’s record to 5-6 and Georgia Southern to 4-4.

The Ospreys play on the road this weekend at the Mississippi State Invitational with their first match against UAB on Thursday, September 19 at 11 a.m.

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