JACKSONVILLE, Fl. – Bellarmine volleyball bounced back on Saturday night, rallying from a first set loss for a 3-1 victory over North Florida to end the weekend on a high note at UNF Arena.

The Knights (9-11, 3-5) opened their longest ASUN road trip of the season last night, falling in straight sets at Jacksonville. Tonight, Bellarmine opened the match in a one set hole but responded with high energy to rally for three straight 25-22 set wins to take down North Florida (8-13, 2-6).

Redshirt freshman Mya White led the offense for the second consecutive match, registering 15 kills with five digs, two aces, one block and one assist. Behind her, junior Natalie Bland turned in 14 kills on the night while tallying 11 digs, two assists and a block for her fifth double-double of the season. Senior Kylie Van Hoy also recorded a double-double on the night, her team leading sixth of the year, as she tallied 41 assists, 11 digs, six kills (6-0-12, .500), three blocks and two aces to stuff the stat sheet. Sophomore Payton Parsons turned in a match-high 17 digs.

As a team, the Knights recorded seven aces to North Florida's one while also turning in a more efficient offense attack with a .240 hitting percentage to the Osprey's .232. Both teams registered 65 digs while UNF recorded more kills (58-53), assists (54-50) and blocs (10.0-7.0).

Set 1
North Florida took the first lead of the match, going up 5-2 early in the first. Bellarmine got within one point, down 6-5 before UNF tallied five straight points to extend the lead to 11-5 as BU called a timeout. The Knights ended the run out of the break and fought their way back to within two at 16-14 before North Florida pushed the pace again for another four-point lead at 20-16. The Knights tried to make a late run but didn't have enough time as the Osprey's held on for a 25-20 win.

Set 2
UNF carried its momentum into the second stanza, jumping ahead 5-0. Bellarmine once again fought back, this time tying the score at 6-6 before taking its first lead of the match at 8-7 to force a timeout. From there, both teams fought for position with two more ties at 11-11 and 16-16 before Bellarmine called a timeout down two at 18-16. The break proved fruitful as the Knights pulled even again at 18-18 where the set continued to be a battle. With ties at 20 and 22, the set looked destined for extra points, but Bellarmine delivered a clutch 3-0 run, aided by an official review overturn, to steal the set 25-22 and even the match 1-1.

Set 3
This time, the Knights carried momentum forward, taking an early 3-1 lead. North Florida quickly settled in however, ripping off five points to overtake BU with a 6-4 lead. The Knights remained calm however and slowly worked their way back to a 6-6 tie before turning in a 6-2 run to vault ahead 12-8 and force a UNF timeout. Bellarmine continued to control the set out of the break, only allowing three points to the Ospreys as the lead ballooned to six at 17-11 with UNF using its final timeout. North Florida responded well out the break, scoring three of four points to get within four at 18-14 as BU used a timeout. The Knights played their game from that point on, holding off a late North Florida advance to squeeze out a 25-22 victory and take a 2-1 lead.

Set 4
With a loss on the horizon, North Florida came out ready to play in the fourth frame, going up 4-1. The Knights impressed with another rally, jumping ahead 6-4. From there, neither team could find an edge as points were traded back-and-forth until the Ospreys took a narrow 15-14 lead into the media timeout. Out of the break, UNF built on its lead to force a Bellarmine timeout, down 17-15. BU responded out of the break, going on a 4-1 run to overtake the Ospreys 19-18 as UNF called its first timeout. With two more ties at 19 and 20, Bellarmine made a late push for a 22-20 lead to force the final UNF timeout before cruising to a third consecutive 25-22 win to take the match 3-1.

Up next, Bellarmine will continue its road stretch with trips to Conway, AR and Florence, AL to take on Central Arkansas and North Alabama October 24-26.

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