FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern University volleyball team (3-4) split a pair of matches on the second day of the Fifth Annual Hyatt Place Shark Classic by swarming the District of Columbia Firebirds 3-0 on Friday afternoon, but dropped the nightcap 3-0 to the #9 Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs (6-0) at the Don Taft University Center the same night.

After a tournament opening win over West Alabama on Thursday night, the Sharks continued their streak with a 3-0 to open the second day of match play over UDC. Senior Paola Ruiz (Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico) led the charge with 14 kills, while Rachel Woodson was second on the team with 11. However, Molly Sigerich (Jr., Downers Grove, Ill.) was the most efficient of all the Shark hitters going 9 of 13 for a blistering .692 hitting percentage.

The Firebirds (5-2) opened the first set with an early 3-0 lead, but Woodson’s kill midway through the set gave the Sharks a 15-14 advantage and NSU led the rest of the way for a 25-21 win. The second set was a different story as the Shark s hit a blazing .611 team percentage en route to a 25-6 win. Leading by two sets, the Sharks struggled early on in set three, but managed to come from behind to win the final set by the same score as the first. The Sharks won 25-21, 25-6, 25-21.

NSU finished the match with an impressive .323 team hitting percentage, while Jordan Pappas (So., Naperville, Ill. ) led the offensive charge with 36 assists. Kathleen Yony (Sr., Miami, Fla.) added 18 digs.

The Firebirds were held to a mere .105 team attack percentage and not a single player exceeded six digs for the match. However, Grace DeMichaels collected a team-high 11 digs.

In the nightcap, the Sharks (3-4) dropped a tough match to the ninth-ranked Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs (6-0) by a final score of 3-0. NSU lost by set scores of 25-21, 25-23, 25-18.

In the first two sets, the Sharks challenged the highly touted Bulldogs to the end of both, but in the end it was UMD to come out ahead. In the final set, the Sharks remained vigilant but Duluth remained undefeated and ended the match with a 25-18 score.

Ruiz led the Sharks with 13 kills in the nightcap, while Woodson added another 11 to her season total. Yony finished with 14 digs. Alyssa Nelson led the way for UMD with 10 kills, while Allison Fanta finished with 15 digs.

The Sharks will return to action on Saturday for their last showdown of the 2010 Hyatt Place Shark Classic against Arkansas Tech at 1:30 pm.