Saint Leo, Fla. (October 12, 2007) - Nova Southeastern University volleyball lost a tough 3-1 decision at the hands of Saint Leo University by the scores of 30-20, 31-29, 19-30 and 30-23 to fall to 18-7 (6-3 SSC) on the season on Friday evening in the Marion Bowman Activities Center. Saint Leo improves to 19-6 (4-4 SSC) on the season.

Saint Leo came out strong in game one, winning 30-20. The Lions hit a staggering .571 in the opening game, while NSU hit .290. Middle Melinda Gorman (Jr., Sarasota, Fla.) proved to be too much for Saint Leo to handle, posting five kills in six attempts. Setter Valia Petrova (Jr., Sofia, Bulgaria) distributed 14 assists for the Sharks. Saint Leo's Jenna Jordan led all players with six kills.

Game two was a see-saw affair that saw multiple lead changes until Saint Leo came out ahead 31-29. The Lions scored the final three points to come back from a 29-28 deficit to win. The Lions continued to stay hot, as they were credited with no errors and 16 kills to hit .516. NSU set a season high with 24 kills in the game, hitting .370, but were held back by seven attack and four service errors. Opposite Aley Tallman (Jr., Wichita, Kan.) led all players with seven kills in the game, followed by Gorman and outside Jenerra McGruder (So., Euless, Tex.) with four apiece. Jordan and Chelsea Armer led Saint Leo with five kills each.

Nova Southeastern came out on a mission after the intermission to win game three 30-19. NSU did not have any attack errors and posted 16 kills in 32 attempts to hit .500 for the game. Saint Leo was limited to a .056 attack percentage and was out-blocked three to zero. Outside hitter Christina Chubb (Jr., Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) led the Sharks with six kills, followed by Tallman with five and Gorman with three. Kaitlin McKenna posted five kills for the Lions.

The Sharks raced out to an early lead in game four, only to see it evaporate in the 30-23 loss. NSU was out-hit .368 to .136 and was held back by eight attack errors. Gorman once again led NSU with four kills. Michelle Nogueras had seven kills for Saint Leo.

For the match, NSU was out-hit by SLU .361 to .306, but the Sharks out-blocked Saint Leo four to three. Tallman led all players with 17 kills, followed by Gorman with 16 and Chubb with 14. Petrova tallied 58 assists, four kills and seven digs. McGruder lead all NSU players with 13 digs and tied for the team lead with Gorman with three blocks.

Jordan had a team high 15 kills for Saint Leo, followed by McKenna with 12 and Nogueras with 11.

Nova Southeastern University will continue play on the road, facing South Region opponent Valdosta State University at 2pm on Saturday, October 13th at Saint Leo.