LAKELAND, Fla. (Aug. 28) - The UAA volleyball team came agonizingly shy of a perfect road trip to start the season, splitting a pair of matches at the Florida Southern/Saint Leo Classic on Saturday.

The Seawolves (3-1) opened their second day of competition with a dominating 30-22, 30-27, 30-21 victory over Valdosta State (Ga.), before closing with a 30-27, 30-20, 20-30, 27-30, 18-16 loss to host Florida Southern.

In the first match, Jenny Mitchell had a match-best 11 kills with a career-high .556 hitting percentage, while fellow senior Katina Ozrelic slammed eight kills against just one error and recorded six blocks. UAA got 32 assists from setter Stephanie Martinez, while freshman Rachael Knecht led the team in digs with 10.

Valdosta State (0-3) got nine kills and 13 digs from Laura Lee Atkinson.

Against Florida Southern (4-0), the Seawolves rebounded from a 2-0 deficit to force a fifth game thanks to Mitchell's 17 kills and career-high 16 digs. Senior middle blocker Mindy Lindquist had 12 kills, just one attack error and seven blocks, while Ozrelic and Carolyn DeKay nailed 14 kills apiece.

The Seawolves led through much of the fifth game and held a 16-15 advantage after a Moccasin attack error, but the hosts tied it on a kill by Joleen Cacciatore and got two successive kills by Beverly Stasis to win the match.

Martinez had a career-best 60 assists, while Knecht recorded 27 digs against Florida Southern, which last night defeated 16th-ranked Augustana.

The Seawolves return home to begin defense of their Aspen Hotels Invitational title Thursday, Sept. 2. Harding and Montana State-Billings kick off the tourney at 5 p.m., followed by UAA against Lincoln Christian at 7:30.