FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. (Nov. 1, 2008) - The Nova Southeastern University volleyball team overcame a two set deficit to defeat No. 5 nationally ranked University of Tampa in five sets by the scores of 25-27, 21-25, 25-21, 25-21 and 16-14 inside the University Center Arena on Saturday afternoon. The win, NSU volleyballs first ever over Tampa in program history, improves the Sharks record to 20-7 on the season and 8-3 in the Sunshine State Conference while Tampa falls to 22-4 and 9-3 SSC.
Tampa came away with a 27-25 set one victory that featured 16 ties and five lead changes. The Spartans hit a match high .387 in the set, led by Melissa Vanderhall with five kills. For NSU, Emily Carle (Sr., Missouri City, Tex.) ignited the offense with six kills and a .556 attack percentage. Setter Valia Petrova (Sr., Sofia, Bulgaria) distributed 15 assists and had four digs while outside hitter Melinda Gorman (Sr., Sarasota, Fla.) contributed four kills.
The Spartans pulled away late in the second set for a 25-21 victory. Tampa hit .182 as a team while NSU had a .179 hitting percentage. Outside hitter Jenerra McGruder (Jr., Euless, Tex.) paced the Sharks with five kills and a .625 attack percentage. Gorman, and Paola Ruiz (So., Rio Piedras, P.R.) had five digs.
NSU rebounded to win the third set, 25-21. The Sharks hit a match high .391 in the set, led by Ruiz with four kills. Carle and McGruder had three kills, apiece. Petrova added 12 assists while libero Alison Kalish (Jr., Miami, Fla.) accounted for three digs.
The Sharks evened the match at two sets apiece in the fourth set, winning 25-21. Carle and McGruder had three more kills each. Kalish added eight more digs.
Nova Southeastern carried their momentum over into the fifth set, coming away with a 16-14 victory. The Sharks out-hit the Spartans .292 to .087. Carle tallied four more kills while middle Molly Sigerich (Fr., Downers Grove, Ill.) and Gorman had two kills.
For the match, NSU out-hit Tampa .272 to .222. The Sharks had three more assists, two more aces, five more digs and two more blocks than the Spartans in the match.
Carle led NSU with 18 kills, a .424 attack percentage and six blocks. Ruiz and McGruder had 12 kills while Gorman and Sigerich were also in double figures with 10 apiece. Petrova had 27 assists, two aces, nine digs, and two blocks. McGruder had a match high .550 attack percentage with 12 kills and one error in 20 attempts. Kalish finished the match with a team high 20 digs.
Danielle McDonald had a team high 19 kills for Tampa. Melissa Vanderhall followed with 16 kills.
The victory also marks the highest rank opponent ever defeated in NSU Volleyball history.
NSU will travel to Miami Shores, Fla. on Wednesday, November 5th to play Barry University in a Sunshine State Conference match at 7 pm.
