PENSACOLA, Fla. (Sept. 11, 2009) - The #17 Nova Southeastern University volleyball team downed University of Puerto Rico Rio-Piedras in four sets before being beaten by North Alabama on day two of the West Florida Crossover in play on Friday. With the split, the Sharks stand at 7-4 on the season.

The Sharks took advantage of multiple Rio-Piedras errors in the first set to win 25-14. As a team NSU hit .269 while UPR was held to .000. Freshman middle blocker Carly Perschnick (Dwight, Ill.) and senior setter Valia Petrova (Sofia, Bulgaria) led the way for Nova Southeastern with three kills apiece. The Sharks out-blocked the opposition four to zero.

NSU carried their momentum over into the second set, winning 25-17. Even though their hitting percentage dropped to .125, UPR Rio-Piedras was once again held even at .000. Junior outside hitter Lucia Cizmarova (Bratislava, Slovak Republic) led the charge with three kills.

Things fell apart for NSU in the third set as they fell 25-18. The Sharks were out-hit .433 to .065 and UPR Rio-Piedras managed to double their total in kills (16-8). Once again Cizmarova led the Sharks with three kills.

Nova Southeastern jumped out to an early five point advantage in the fourth set, but Rio-Piedras tied the set and even took the lead at 22-21. Not discouraged, NSU went on a 4-1 run to close the set and match. Junior outside hitter Taylor Pohlman (Olathe, Kan.) totaled a set high seven kills and only one error for a .429 attack percentage to lead NSU.

For the match, NSU out-hit Rio-Piedras .178 to .122. The Sharks had 15 less kills than the opposition but had 18 less attack errors. Pohlman had a match high 10 kills for the Sharks and was followed by Perschnick with seven and Petrova and Cizmarova with six, apiece. Petrova also had 24 assists, 11 digs and five blocks. Junior libero Kathleen Yony (Miami, Fla.) tallied a match high 15 digs.

Valeria Rosa led Puerto Rico Rio-Piedras with 19 kills and a .213 hitting percentage.

Later in the day, the Sharks fell in three sets to North Alabama by the scores of 21-25, 25-27, and 23-25. The Lions out-hit NSU .267 to .163 in the match. Backed by the play of setter Alison Jacobs, who had a triple-double with 14 kills, 28 assists and 10 digs, the Lions pulled away late in each set. Nova Southeastern was led by Pohlman with 13 kills while Perschnick followed with seven.

Nova Southeastern concludes play in the West Florida Crossover on Saturday, Sept. 12th vs. West Alabama.