Elon Volleyball Drops Five-Set Match to Ospreys

BUIES CREEK, N.C. – The Elon volleyball (3-6) team rallied from a 2-1 deficit but was not able to pull out the victory today, Sept. 12, against North Florida (3-5), falling 3-2 (25-20, 23-25, 19-25, 25-19, 9-15), in the first match of the Hampton Inn & Suites of Holly Springs Invitational.

“We had trouble starting out sets this afternoon,” said Elon head coach Mary Tendler. “We would start out in a hole and then fight back, but at times it was too late. We need to do a better job of being the aggressors right from the start. That will have to happen to have success against South Carolina and Campbell tomorrow.”

After falling behind 3-0 in the first set, the Phoenix evened the score at five-all then used kills by Sydney Busa, Danielle Smith and Kayla Agae and an ace by Morgan Maner to cap a 4-0 run and lead by four, 9-5. Kills by Busa, Agae and another ace by Maner kept Elon at a four-point advantage, 18-14, before taking a 25-20 win.

Down by six, 12-6, the maroon and gold rallied with an 8-3 run to pull within one, 15-14, after a block by D. Smith and Agae. The Phoenix would even the score at 17-all but the Ospreys maintained the advantage. UNF reached set point, 24-22, but was stalled by a block by Ally Karle and Busa for Elon to pull within one, 24-23, but the Ospreys held on to win, 25-23.

UNF took the lead from the start in set three with kills by D. Smith and Chanelle Smith keeping the Phoenix within three, 11-8. Trailing by six, 20-14, kills by Agae, Busa and Klein cut the deficit again to three, 21-18. The Ospreys managed to close out the set on a 4-1 run for a 25-19 win and 2-1 match lead.

With the fourth set tied at four-all, two kills by Busa helped the Phoenix to a four straight to lead, 7-3. Kills by Kris Harris, Busa and Karle would keep Elon ahead by five before a block by Michelle Klein and Busa extended the advantage to six, 20-14, forcing a UNF timeout. A kill by Agae would seal the win, 25-19, and send the match into a fifth set.

The Ospreys pulled out to a 10-5 lead in the final set before two kills by Agae closed the gap to three, 10-7. However, UNF was able to close out the set and the match on a 5-2 run to win, 15-9.

Elon continues play in the Hampton Inn & Suites of Holly Springs Invitational tomorrow, Sept. 12, with matches against South Carolina at 10 a.m. and host Campbell at 7 p.m.