Jacksonville, Fla. – Despite getting a season-high tying 18 kills out of Morgan Thomas, USC Upstate could not break through in a hard-fought A-Sun tilt as the Spartans fell at North Florida in four games. The Ospreys won by scores of 25-21, 23-25, 25-14 and 25-21.

Upstate fell to 7-13 overall and 1-4 in the A-Sun with the loss. The Spartans will remain in Jacksonville to take on the Jacksonville Dolphins Saturday afternoon at 3:00 before heading back to Spartanburg. North Florida improved to 5-15 overall and 2-3 in the league with the win.

Three of the four sets were close in the match, and North Florida managed to squeak out two of the three to secure the victory. Upstate scored the first three points of the first set and held the lead until North Florida tied it at 8-8. The set remained close with the Ospreys battling out a 13-11 lead. Leading 14-12, North Florida went on a small 3-0 run, but the effort put them ahead by five and Upstate managed to get within just three points the rest of the way as UNF took the 25-21 win. The Ospreys hit .280 for the set and limited Upstate to .171 hitting. Paige Pridgeon led the way for UNF, recording 10 kills in the set. Thomas (Plantation, Fla.) tallied six for the Spartans.

The second set was a fierce battle that, in the end, was won by Upstate. Trailing 12-10, the Spartans went on a five-point run, winning four points on Emily Sanders' (Sullivan, Ill.) serve to open a 15-12 lead. North Florida fought back to tie it at 15-15 and the set remained tied at 19-19. Two-straight attacking errors by UNF and a kill by Sanders and Thomas gave Upstate a 23-19 lead. Just as it looked as if Upstate was going to cruise the rest of the way, North Florida rallied to get within one, 24-23, but an attacking error by the Ospreys gave the set to the Spartans, tying the match at 1-1. Katie Downey (Belleville, Ill.) and Thomas each had four kills to lead Upstate in the set.

The match seemed to turn in the third set. Despite the fact that North Florida managed just eight kills and posted a .091 hitting percentage, Upstate could not capitalize. The Spartans totaled eight kills, but 10 errors hurt the Spartans and the Ospreys took the set, 25-14.

The fourth set was another close battle as Upstate put aside its performance in the third frame to fight for a fifth set. With the score tied at 8-8, Upstate went on a 4-0 run to open a 12-8 lead, getting three-straight kills from Thomas to spark the run. However, UNF fought back to tie it at 14 apiece and squeaked out a 20-17 lead late in the set. Upstate battled back to within two points on three occasions, the last at 22-20, but UNF scored two consecutive points to open a 24-20 lead and went on for the win in the set and match. Thomas had six kills in the set to help the Upstate cause, while Anna Budinska tallied six for the Ospreys.

Mindy Quimby (Keenesburg, Colo.) tallied eight kills and 10 digs on the night for Upstate. Megan Healey (St. Louis, Mo.) topped the Spartans with 23 digs, while Sanders finished with 38 assists and 16 digs for her 13^th double-double of the season.

Pridgeon led North Florida with a match-high 21 kills and 17 digs. Budinska and Jessica Catelano each had 13 kills, while Dagnija Medina totaled 10. Nicole Baran finished with a match-high 27 digs, while Britt Claessens led the match with 51 assists.