Game 1 Box -
Game 2 Box
Fort Lauderdale, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern volleyball team (1-3) dropped a pair of matches on the final day of the Sixth Annual Shark Classic on Saturday at the NSU Arena at the Don Taft University Center. The Sharks fell to Wayne State (2-2) in the morning match and later to highly touted Wheeling Jesuit (4-0) in the afternoon, both by 3-1 scores.
Senior Danielle Graham (Cincinnati, Ohio) continued to be the Sharks’ top offensive threat collecting 29 kills on 76 attempts, while adding 20 digs and six blocks defensively. Dana Holger (Lino Lakes, Minn.) added another 23 kills and six blocks, while Sydney Cook (Fr., Miami, Fla.) added 21 kills including her first career double-digit match of 13 against Wheeling Jesuit.
Opening the final day of the Shark Classic, NSU struggled early against Wayne State (Mich.) dropping the first two sets 25-18 and 25-8. Once the Sharks took a 5-4 lead in the third, both Cook and Graham collected five kills apiece to pace NSU to a 25-22 third set win. Down 2-1 and despite their best efforts, the Sharks eventually fell 26-24 in the fourth and final set losing their second match of the tournament 3-1.
Graham posted 16 kills to lead the Sharks, while Holger added 13. Paige Boivin (Sr., Plainfield, Ill.) collected 17 digs and Jordan Pappas (Sr., Naperville, Ill.) dished out 40 assists. Wayne State’s Kristen Bulkiewicz and Madie Kent added 18 and 17 kills respectively to pace the Warriors.
In their final match, NSU faced the Wheeling Jesuit Cardinals who were preseason ranked No. 25 in the AVCA (American Volleyball Coaches Association) Top-25 and fell 3-1. The Sharks fell behind early two sets 25-16 and 25-14, but rallied back for a 25-19 third set win. After the intermission, the Cardinals fired back with a 25-18 win to take the match despite two lead changes throughout the final set.
Freshman outside hitter Cook emerged as the top attacker for the Sharks posting her first-career double-digit kill match and a .219 hitting percentage. Graham added 13 kills and 12 digs for a double-double, while Holger collected her first career double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs. Boivin added another 19 digs for the Sharks.
At the conclusion of the tournament, 10 athletes were selected by the coaches and sports information directors to comprise the Sixth Annual Shark Classic All-Tournament Team. Wheeling Jesuit and Lynn University each had three, while Texas A&M Int’l had two. Wayne State and Nova Southeastern each had one. Wheeling Jesuit’s Jenna Pew collected the most votes to earn the tournament’s Most Valuable Player Award. Below is a complete list of the all-tournament selections:
MVP - Jenna Pew, Wheeling Jesuit
Allissa Ware, Wheeling Jesuit
Makenzie Ripley, Wheeling Jesuit
Brittany Brown, Lynn
Brianna Cox, Lynn
Shannon Dugan, Lynn
Daria Winkler, Texas A&M Int’l
Desire Ortiz, Texas A&M Int’l
Danielle Graham, Nova Southeastern
Kristen Bukiewicz, Wayne State (Mich.)
The Sharks will return to action on Friday, Sept 7 at the USC-Aiken Invitational in Aiken, S.C. facing Wingate at 1 pm followed by Flagler at 5 pm.
For the latest NSU news and results, be sure to visit
www.NSUSharks.com. To have results sent directly to your cell phone via text message, sign up for SMS text message delivery by
clicking here. For the latest news, be sure to sign up for the Shark Alert E-newsletter by
clicking here.
