CANYON, Tex. (Aug. 29, 2009) - The #19 Nova Southeastern University Sharks volleyball team fell just short vs. #4 Grand Valley State (Mich.) on Saturday afternoon, dropping a three set decision by the scores of 27-25, 25-21 and 29-27. The loss drops the Sharks to 2-2 on the season while Grand Valley State improves to 3-1.

Sharks head coach Steve Wilcosky called a timeout midway through the first set with NSU trailing 15-10. The Sharks would respond by going on a rally to lead 24-23 and hold serve on match point. NSU could not hold off the Lakers, who eventually won the set 27-25. Grand Valley out-hit NSU .167 to .096 and out-blocked the Sharks five to zero. Senior outside hitter Jenerra McGruder (Euless, Tex.) paced the Sharks attack with six kills.

The Lakers jumped out to quick 6-0 lead in the second set. NSU fought back, tying the score at 17 apiece and even took a one point lead at 19-18 before Grand Valley regrouped to take the set 25-21. The Lakers were held to a .000 hitting percentage while NSU was at .030. Junior outside hitter Lucia Cizmarova (Bratislava, Slovak Republic) led the Sharks with three kills.

NSU led for the majority of the third set until Grand Valley knotted the score at 17 apiece. Once again the Sharks held serve leading at match point (24-23) but couldn't take advantage. With the balance of the match hanging with each rally Grand Valley went on the final run to win 29-27.

The Sharks were out-hit .115 to .091 for the match but the difference was the Lakers 12.0 to 4.5 advantage in blocks. McGruder and freshman middle blocker Carly Perschnick (Dwight, Ill.) tied for the team lead with 10 kills each. Junior libero Kathleen Yony (Miami, Fla.) tallied a team high 15 digs while freshman setter Jordan Pappas (Naperville, Ill.) had 30 assists.

For her performance in the tournament, Perschnick was named to the All-Tournament team at the conclusion of play.

Rebeccah Rapin had a match high 10 kills for Grand Valley State.

The Sharks return home to host the 4th Annual Sharks Classic inside the Don Taft University Center on Thursday, September 4th and Friday, September 5th.