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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern University volleyball team (8-18, 3-12 SSC) will conclude the 2010 season on the road against the No. 2 team in the nation, the University of Tampa. The Spartans (24-3, 13-1 SSC) and Sharks will butt heads in Tampa at 7 p.m. on Friday.
The Sharks will look to upset Tampa, who already claimed the 2010 SSC regular season Championship last week. NSU will not make the postseason but will look to end the season on a positive note.
In their last meeting, NSU took the Spartans to an unexpected five sets but couldn’t hang on to a late lead and fell to the nationally ranked team.
Sophomore Rachel Woodson (Rogers, Ark.) had a match high 18 kills and sophomore Jordan Pappas dished out 53 assists in the loss. Junior Molly Sigerich (Downers Grove, Ill.) and senior Paola Ruiz (Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico) both recorded double-digit kills with 14. Ruiz also shattered her previous career high in digs as she had 24 against Tampa. Senior libero Kathleen Yony dug 29 balls, despite limited time in the fifth set due to injury.
Yony will play in her last match in a Sharks uniform as she will add more digs to her already all-time school dig record of 1,714. Setter Pappas is just two assist shy of reaching 1,000 for the season.
About No. 2 Tampa
The Spartans are currently riding a14-match win streak.
Tampa (24-3, 13-1 SSC) secured its sixth consecutive SSC crown with a win over Lynn on Nov 6th. Senior setter Meghan Sherman tallied 42 assists in the contest, a season high for a three-set match, a night after becoming just the fifth player in UT history to reach 3,000 career assists. Sherman also guided the Spartans to a .336 attack rate for the match and dumped in two kills. She recorded her 12th double-double of the year by adding 14 digs and assisted in three blocks.
Libero Julie Howlett anchored the back row for UT, notching a match-high 17 digs and limiting the Fighting Knights to a .203 mark.
Up front, Tampa put up nine total team blocks, led by Danielle Selkridge with five block assists. Melissa Vanderhall also assisted in three stops at the net while Sam Macks and Kaleigh Cunningham each had a solo block.
