FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. (Sept. 19, 2009) - The #23 Nova Southeastern University volleyball team dropped #21 Eckerd in four sets in Sunshine State Conference play on Saturday afternoon. The Sharks won by the scores of 26-28, 25-23, 25-18 and 25-17. The win improves NSU's record to 9-5 (1-1 SSC) while Eckerd falls to 6-5 (0-2 SSC).

The Sharks came out slowly in the first set trailing Eckerd most of the way. However, the Sharks would rally to lead 24-23 and serve on set point but the Tritons responded to win 28-26. NSU hit a match low .135 while Eckerd hit at a .159 clip. Junior outside hitter Taylor Pohlman (Olathe, Kan.) had five kills in the set, followed by senior outside hitter Jenerra McGruder (Euless, Tex.) with four. Freshman Taylor Manning led Eckerd with four kills.

Reducing their attack errors, NSU went on to win the second set 25-23 after holding off a late Tritons rally. Senior All-America setter Valia Petrova (Sofia, Bulgaria) tied for the team lead with four kills alongside McGruder. Petrova also added 10 assists and three digs.

NSU carried their momentum over into the third set to win 25-18. The Sharks hit a match high .371 with 16 kills and only three errors in 35 chances. Pohlman led the way with four kills while junior outside hitter Lucia Cizmarova (Bratislava, Slovak Republic) and freshman middle blocker Carly Perschnick (Dwight, Ill.) had three kills apiece. Eckerd was held to a .176 attack percentage.

11 Tritons errors contributed to the Sharks 15-17 fourth set victory. Eckerd hit only .026 as a team while NSU hit .276. Pohlman had a set high three kills for the Sharks. Junior libero Kathleen Yony (Miami, Fla.) contributed with four digs.

For the match, the Sharks out-hit Eckerd .252 to .136. NSU had eight more kills, six more assists and three more aces than the Tritons. Pohlman led the way with a match high 14 kills and a .333 attack percentage. She also had two assists and 14 digs. McGruder followed with 12 kills while Cizmarova had nine and sophomore middle blocker Molly Sigerich (Downers Grove, Ill.) and Perschnick had eight apiece. Petrova finished with seven kills, 48 assists, an ace and 10 digs. Yony led the Sharks with 15 digs.

Eckerd was paced by Manning with 14 kills while Lydee Benoit had 13.

The Sharks remain at home to host #5 Tampa inside the Don Taft University Center at 4 pm on Sunday, Sept. 20th.