Lakeland, Fla. (November 4, 2007) - The Nova Southeastern University volleyball team swept its season series with 11th ranked Florida Southern by defeating the Moccasins three games to two in play on Sunday afternoon. The 26-30, 30-25, 26-30, 30-27, 15-6 victory vaults the Sharks past Florida Southern in the Sunshine State Conference standings, with NSU now in second place with a 10-4 record while FSC falls to 10-5. NSU now stands 24-8 overall while Florida Southern is 23-8.

Florida Southern went on a 5-1 run right out of the opening gates to take the early lead. NSU would go on a 4-1 run to close to within one point at 13-12, but the Sharks couldn't overcome an 8-1 FSC run to lose 30-26. The Sharks out-hit FSC .244 to .220 and had five total blocks in the game. NSU was led by Emily Carle (Jr., Missouri City, Tex.), Aley Tallman (So., Wichita, Kan.) and Melinda Gorman (Jr., Sarasota, Fla.) with four kills each.

After Florida Southern scored the opening point in game two NSU would go on a 10-3 run to lead 10-4. FSC responded with a 6-1 run to close within one point before NSU countered with a 7-3 run to lead 18-13. The Sharks would hold on to win 30-25. NSU was helped by four blocks to out-hit FSC .220 to .029. Carle and Gorman led the Sharks charge with four kills.

Eight team blocks were not enough for the Sharks in game three as NSU fell 30-26. A 13-3 FSC run mid way through game four doomed Nova Southeastern, as they were held to only nine kills in the game. Gorman's four blocks and three from Carle and Tallman helped keep NSU in the game.

The Sharks turned the tables on Florida Southern in game four, starting with a 10-3 lead and weathering a 12-4 FSC run to win 30-27. The Sharks hit .375 as a team while holding Florida Southern to a .179 attack percentage. Carle blasted the Moccasins for seven kills while outside hitter Paola Ruiz (Fr., Rio Piedras, P.R.) contributed with four.

After finding themselves down 2-0 in the match deciding game five, Nova Southeastern dug in to go on a 15-4 rally to close the match. The Sharks hit a match high .417 while limiting FSC to a -.143 attack percentage. The team had four total blocks in the final game.

NSU set a new program record with 23 total blocks in the match. The record was previously with 18.5 total blocks vs. Barry University on 9/27/07. Gorman set a new program single game record with a team high 14 blocks, followed by Petrova with nine, Carle with eight, and Christina Chubb (Jr., Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) with six. Gorman's first block of the match broke the NSU single season block assist record, previously held by Natalie Kramer with 103 since 1993. Gorman finished the match with 117 block assists.

Carle led the Sharks with 18 kills, followed by Gorman with 14 and Petrova and Tallman with 10 each.

Petrova just fell shy of a quadruple-double, posting 10 kills, 49 assists, eight digs and nine blocks. Tallman had a team high 16 digs for the Sharks. She also tied the program's single season assist record with her last assist, and now stands tied with Beth Chorzelewski with 1385.

Florida Southern was led by Beverly Stasis with 15 kills. Stais became the all-time kills leader in the Sunshine State Conference, breaking the record of 1,925 set by Ania Ruiz of Tampa. She now has 1,933 career kills.

Nova Southeastern volleyball returns home to hosts Saint Leo on Friday, November 9th at 7pm in the University Center Arena.