JACKSONVILLE, FL—North Florida's Morgan Van Alstine and Erin Edwards each hit over .700, leading the Osprey's to a 3-0 sweep over visiting NJIT Saturday afternoon at UNF Arena.
North Florida swept the visiting Highlanders in straight sets, 25-13, 25-21 and 25-15.
Middle blocker Van Alstine led North Florida (3-2 Atlantic Sun, 16-5 overall) with a .727 hitting percentage for the match, combining for 8 kills with no errors on 11 swings. Edwards, the Osprey's junior middle blocker, registered a .706 hitting percentage with 12 kills with no errors on 17 attempts.
Senior outside hitter Ambre Desaulnay added 11 kills while setters Abby Fesl and Carinne Turner recorded 20 and 15 assists, respectively. Outside hitter Tessa Alyman dug-up 10 digs.
Senior outside hitter
Danica Vukotic led NJIT (1-4 Atlantic Sun, 5-15 overall) with 12 kills. Freshman setter
Emily Krachenfels registered a match-best 24 assists while libero Andrea Nieto notched a match-high 12 digs followed by freshman Maija Tosic 10 digs.
The visiting Highlanders held a 6-2 service ace advantage paced by NJIT's
Danica Vukotic with 4 aces. North Florida edged in the team blocking 7-to-6 led by 4 assists from Van Alstine. Alyman and Edwards each recorded 3 block assists.
NJIT's
Nina Vukotic paced the Highlanders in front of the net with 4 block assists followed by
Tess Albyn and
Anneka Harris with 3 assists each.
In the first set, North Florida combined for a .435 hitting advantage (11 kills, 1 error, 23 attempts). The Ospreys scored the first six points of the set for a 6-0 advantage but the Highlanders rallied back pulling within two, 5-7. After two runs by North Florida, the Ospreys extended its lead to 17-7 and never looked back taking the first frame, 25-13.
The set remained close in the second frame early, and the Highlanders pulled ahead by three, 13-10, on three straight aces by
Danica Vukotic. North Florida rallied back taking a 17-16 advantage. Both teams traded points, with the Highlanders slimming the lead to one, 20-21 on block assists by
Nina Vukotic and Albyn. The Ospreys scored the next two points for a 23-20 advantage resulting in an NJIT timeout. NJIT scored a point out of the timeout, but North Florida closed out the set
scoring the final two points for a 25-21 victory.
In the third frame, North Florida hit .487 (21 kills, 2 errors, 39 attempts). The Ospreys jumped out to its second 6-0 run of the night and later extended its lead to 11-3. NJIT slimmed the lead to five, 13-18, after three straight points, but the Ospreys answered back with four straight points pulling ahead 22-13. North Florida secured the win, 25-15, with a 3-1 run to close out the match.
The Highlanders will return to action on Wednesday at 7pm in non-conference action hosting Saint Peter's at the Fleisher Athletic Center. The two teams met on September 30 in Jersey City, with the Peacocks earning a 3-2 victory.
