FLORENCE, Ala. (November 3, 2023) – North Alabama Volleyball opened its regular season home finale weekend with a straight set win over the Bellarmine Knights, 3-0, in CB&S Bank Arena inside Flowers Hall Friday night.
The win extended the Lions' record-setting Division I win total to 15, while moving their Atlantic Sun Conference record to 7-6. The match served as a rematch of the two team's earlier matchup on Sept. 30, when the Knights defeated UNA at home in Louisville, Ky. The loss for Bellarmine moved their record to 9-16 overall with a 7-6 conference record to match UNA.
It was all North Alabama in the rematch between two teams in the race for an ASUN Volleyball Championship berth, as the Lions used a balanced and efficient attack to dominate the late stretches of each set. Graduate middle blocker Anna Katherine Griggs finished with a career high .818 hitting percentage to extend her ASUN-leading total, while junior outside hitter Katy Floyd accomplished a quadruple-single with a team-high 11 kills and three aces, two digs and one assist.
The Lions tallied 11 service aces, falling one short of a season-high set at Georgetown. This does, however, set a three-set match season-high for UNA with the previous high at 10 set against Austin Peay in September.
There were only six ties in the match, but the score was never tied beyond 3-3 in any set. Additionally, the Lions led by at least five points in all three sets after getting to 15.
The Lions started strong and never looked back in set one, as an early 2-2 scoreline gave way to a 4-0 run set up by Floyd's three-straight service aces to force a Bellarmine timeout at 9-3. A two-point response by the Knights was answered with a 10-1 run by North Alabama, highlighted by two service aces from graduate middle blocker Mattrice Harris and kills from junior outside hitter Brenna Tietz, freshman outside hitter Nicole Sargent and Griggs. A late 3-0 run from Bellarmine would not be enough as UNA set the tone with a 25-13 win.
Bellarmine took the first point in set two, but UNA erased that lead for good with three straight after that. Down 8-4, Bellarmine fought back with a 3-0 run to trim the margin to one, but an 8-3 run from North Alabama put the Lions back in the driver's seat with the score at 16-10. The Lions aced the Knights four times in the set, as senior defensive specialist/libero Katie Gerig, freshman outside hitter Avery Markham, graduate libero Luana Bulara and freshman outside hitter Lexi Pendleton registered a service ace. UNA also had a .500 hitting percentage as a team en route to a second set win, 25-17.
The third set started with a 3-3 scoreline, but 3-0 run from North Alabama gave the home team a 6-3 lead early on — and they never looked back. The Lions never trailed in the set, backed by their highest kill total of any set with 16. Six kills from Floyd, four kills from Griggs and two each for Sargent, Tietz and sophomore outside hitter Hayley Martin led the open-play attack for UNA, and two service aces from Pendleton paced the way for a straight set win, 25-17.
The Lions will play their home regular season finale on Sunday, Nov. 5, when they face EKU for Senior Day at 1 p.m. The seniors all being honored will be the following: Anna Katherine Griggs, Mattrice Harris, Maggie Sullivan, Luana Bulara, Kennedey Johnson, Katie Gerig, and Tatum Fouche.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
