Dolphins finish fifth at the North Florida Invitational – Volleyball news
The women’s sand volleyball team of Jacksonville University recently attended the North Florida Invitational and secured fifth slot on the ranking chart.
The two day UNF Invitational started off on Saturday, March 31 and completed its run on Sunday. The Jacksonville Beach hosted the wonderful sand volleyball matches at the weekend. At the end of the tournament teams settled down in following order:
Florida State University (FSU) Hawaii University (UH) College of Charleston University of North Florida (UNF) Jacksonville University (JU) The University of Brigham, Alabama (UAB) Florida Atlantic University (FAU)
The pairing of freshman Cari Whitmire and Sophomore Kendall Courtney settled for all-tournament honours at the end competition. On the other hand, the duo of Courtney and Whitmire finished tied for third position in the Gold bracket of the UNF Invitational
to claim the accolades for Dolphins.
The JU bagged first win on the second day as a result of forfeit. The pair of Courtney and Whitmire claimed the points as the opposite duo suffered from injuries. In the next run, the JU team clashed with UAB tandem.
Courtney and Whitmire proved to be better in the three-set play and posted 2-1 (21-16, 16-21, 22-20). The first two sets progressed like a see-saw battle as the score was tied at end of second frame. JU captured the opening set before UAB hit the equaliser
in the following flight.
The game entered the decisive third set, which put both teams to real test of skills and temperament. JU players showed remarkable consistency and claimed third set with narrow gap of two points (22-20) and settled for quarter-final victory.
The duo of Courtney and Whitmire advanced to the semi-finals, where they saw Brittany Tiegs and Aurora Newgard of Florida State on the other side of the court. The Dolphins could not overcome the resilient rival and received 0-2 (21-23, 16-21) defeat.
The second duo from Jacksonville, sophomore Niatha Cullen and freshman Sammie Strausbaugh also joined Courtney and Whitmire in the Gold Bracket. They finished the pool play with splendid 5-1 record. They dropped one match to Florida State’s fifth pair in
the first round, but managed to win against UAB’s Heather Thomas and Kirsten Gallagher in the consolation round.
The JU team defeated UAB in three sets 2-1 (25-23, 18-21, 15-11). The first sets featured a close competition but Cullen and Sammie controlled the action in third set of the match and claimed success in the consolation round.
Third team of JU consisted of junior Nicole Teplitz and sophomore Alyssa Robertson. They clawed their way to the sliver bracket of the tournament. Likewise, JU’s Alison Loeppky, Jenna Orner, Kathryn Kane, and Chelsea Sanderson competed in the bronze bracket.
Next up, the Dolphins of Jacksonville University will return to action in the final duals match of the year at Stetson next week.
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