CANYON, Tex. (Aug. 28, 2009) - Competing in an arena that West Texas A&M is 307-10, which is the best home-court record of any team in any division in NCAA, The #19 Nova Southeastern University Sharks dropped a three set match to the #5 West Texas A&M Lady Buffs 28-30, 17-25 and 14-25. The Sharks fall to 0-1 on the season while West Texas A&M improves to 2-0.

The Sharks, who were playing without the services of All-America setter Valia Petrova (Sr., Sofia, Bulgaria), 2008 All-SSC freshman team member Molly Sigerich (So., Downers Grove, Ill.), transfer Taylor Pohlman (Jr., Kansas City, Kan.) and freshman Kelly McMahon (Madison, Wis.), pushed the Lady Buffs into extra play before falling 30-28 in the opening set. The match was back-and-forth in the beginning until West Texas A&M went on a 5-1 run to lead 15-11. With the score 18-13 the Sharks mounted a comeback, eventually taking a 25-24 lead to hold serve on set point. However, NSU was unable to put the set away and West Texas A&M went on a 3-0 run to win 30-28.

Freshman Carly Perschnick (Dwight, Ill.) led the Sharks in the first set, posting eight kills and a .286 attack percentage. Freshman setter Jordan Pappas (Naperville, Ill.) tallied 18 assists, an ace and four digs. Senior outside hitter Jenerra McGruder (Euless, Tex.) contributed with four kills and a .333 attack percentage. For the set, West Texas A&M out-hit NSU .333 to .130 and had four more blocks.

After the Sharks jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the second set West Texas A&M regained control. The Lady Buffs hit .522 as a team in the set while limiting NSU to just .111. McGruder led the Sharks with three kills. Natalie Johnson had four kills for West Texas A&M.

The Lady Buffs took advantage of two early service aces to lead 5-0 in the third set. West Texas A&M would extend the lead to 17-11 en route to the 25-14 victory. NSU hit .029 to .286 for the Lady Buffs.

"The biggest thing is that we've been forced to face adversity right off the bat," said NSU head coach Steve Wilcosky after the match. "I look forward to building on what we saw here today. This match just reinforces my opinion that we will be a very difficult team to beat when at full strength this season."

Perschnick led the Sharks in the match with 12 kills in her collegiate debut. She was followed by McGruder and junior outside hitter Paola Ruiz (Rio Piedras, P.R.) with nine. Junior outside hitter Lucia Cizmarova (Bratislava, Slovak Republic) added six kills. Junior libero Kathleen Yony (Miami, Fla.) had a team high seven digs.

"Carly (Perschnick) didn't have the confidence of a freshman considering it was her collegiate debut," Wilcosky continued. "With the power she possesses, we expect her to continue to build on the history of successful middles in this program."

Natalie Johnson led West Texas A&M with 10 kills as the Lady Buffs hit .377 for the match. The Lady Buffs out-blocked NSU eight to one for the match.

The Sharks will look to rebound against Southwestern Oklahoma State University at 5 p.m. in the Britkare Lady Buff Classic on Friday, Aug. 28th.