The women’s cross country team highlighted a busy week of University of North Florida (UNF) athletics, taking first place in the UNF Invitational on Friday. 

Sophomore Emma Jane Schlageter made this possible, with her performance propelling the Ospreys past Atlantic Sun (ASUN) rival Stetson University. Schlageter did this with a personal best of just over 18 minutes in the 5K event. 

“It was nice to go out and win our home meet,” head coach Jeff Pigg said. “We’ve got a lot of potential frontrunners for our team, so it was great to see.”

Elsewhere across campus, soccer was the name of the game. The women’s team headed north to Athens, Ga. to face the Georgia Bulldogs on Thursday. The result didn’t swing UNF’s way, but the Ospreys fought hard to a 1-0 loss against a high-powered Southeastern Conference squad. 

They followed this up in South Carolina with a draw with the Winthrop Eagles on Sunday. Freshman forward Allie Fekany continued her strong start to the season, scoring her second goal of the year in the 49th minute. The Eagles responded with an equalizer in the 59th minute, with the score remaining knotted 1-1 until final time.

The men’s soccer team was also in action this week, starting things out against a nationally-ranked Florida International University (FIU) group on Tuesday. The Ospreys held tight for the first half, but FIU took the lead in the 49th minute and never looked back. Emotions flared at the end, but the FIU Panthers held on for a 2-0 victory. 

Men’s soccer had a chance for redemption on Saturday in their ASUN opener against (UCA) Central Arkansas. The UCA Bears came to play, though, defending their home turf with a 2-0 win. The Ospreys will have a chance to get things going back in the right direction on Tuesday when they host Georgia Southern. 

The UNF volleyball squad has been dealing with a brutal schedule, all while on the road. Due to UNF Arena renovations, the team won’t have a true home game until late October. In the meantime, they have participated in invitational events against the likes of Florida, Kansas State, and Auburn.

Their most recent road trip came this past weekend, competing in the UAB Invitational in Birmingham, Ala. Things didn’t go their way, though, suffering 3-0 losses to UAB and Auburn. They were able to steal a set in the Troy match, but ultimately fell. Their next outing will be in Iowa, competing in the Hawkeye Invitational.

Lastly, UNF fans were finally able to check out men’s basketball’s full schedule upon its Thursday release. Non-conference highlights include trips to powerhouse programs Kentucky and Gonzaga. The Ospreys’ home opener comes on Nov. 19 against South Carolina State.

That’s all for this week, but make sure to stay tuned to All Things osprey for everything you need to know about UNF athletics.

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