BOX SCORE

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern volleyball team (6-18, 2-10 SSC) visited the Lynn Fighting Knights (13-12, 6-6 SSC) Saturday afternoon, and despite a strong effort from numerous student-athletes, the Sharks fell in four sets (25-20, 27-25, 23-25, 25-21).
 
The Sharks got off to a slow start in the opening set as Brittany Brown recorded a pair of service aces to give Lynn an early 2-0 lead. NSU recovered with Paige Boivin (Jr., Plainfield, Ill.) registering an ace of her own to tie the match, 4-4, and then Danielle Graham (Jr., Cincinnati, Ohio) gave the Sharks their first lead at 6-5, with a strong kill.
 
The Fighting Knights were able to build a small lead, 15-11, in the middle portion of the set, but Samantha High (So., Naples, Fla.) and Anabely Escarpita (Sr., Boca Raton, Fla.) kept the Sharks in it as each tallied kills.
 
Brown moved the Fighting Knights lead back up to five, 20-15, with her fifth kill of the set. Again, the Sharks rebounded and closed the gap to two, 20-18, as Rachel Woodson (Jr., Rogers, Ark.) scored a kill for NSU. It would be as close as NSU would get though, as Lynn would capture five of the last seven points to take the opening set, 25-20.
 
The teams traded points to open the second set before Escarapita and Molly Sigerich (Sr., Downers Grove, Ill.) placed great kills to give the Sharks a two-point advantage, 6-4. Escarpita pushed the lead to three, 8-5, with a powerful kill down the left sideline, forcing a Lynn timeout.
 
Out of the break, Jordan Pappas (Jr., Naperville, Ill.) kept NSU cruising with a service ace in the center of the court. Sigerich followed with a kill two points later on the right side and then paired with High to record the Sharks first block of the match. Sarah Shifflett extended the NSU lead to five, 13-8, with a service ace of her own and the advantage became six after a Fighting Knights ball handling error.
 
Lynn began to battle back, closing the gap to three at two intervals, but Graham rocketed a pair of kills midway through the set to maintain the Sharks advantage. Woodson and High each added another kill to their respective tallies for NSU late in the set before Brown recorded a kill and service ace to get the Fighting Knights back within three, 22-19.
 
The Sharks struggled to find their offensive rhythm out of a timeout and three-straight attack errors knotted the set at 22-22. The Sharks bench used its final timeout to try and thwart Lynn’s momentum, which Graham obliged with a quick kill. Graham came through again with another kill that tied the match at 25-25.
 
Unfortunately, the Sharks could not stop the comeback, as Lynn got kills from Brianna Cox and Brown to finish the set, 27-25.
 
The Sharks opened the third set with a solo block from Graham. After two Lynn points, Graham and Pappas rose up to send back another Fighting Knights attack. The block party in the early stages of the third set continued as Pappas this time paired with Sigerich to knock down a Gaby Cardoso attack and give the Sharks a 6-3 lead.
 
Woodson got in on the action as she registered a solo block on a Lynn attack to give the Sharks a 10-6 advantage. The NSU lead became five, 13-8, when Paige Boivin scored her second service ace of the match. Cox and Brown began to lead a Fighting Knights comeback as the pair tallied three straight kills to shrink the Sharks lead to two, 16-14, forcing a NSU timeout. Out of the break, Sigerich placed a great kill along the left side to put another point on the Sharks side of the scoreboard.
 
Lynn continued to battle though, and after the teams traded service errors, the score evened at 21-21. The Fighting Knights took a one-point lead, but High hit a nice crossing kill and Graham picked up another solo block to put NSU back on top, 23-22, which brought a timeout from Lynn. Graham followed with an unconventional underhand kill and Escarpita sealed the set for the Sharks, 25-23, with a more conventional swing and kill.
 
The Sharks defense continued to shine early in the fourth set as Escarpita this time sent back a Fighting Knights attack in a solo effort. Lynn built a small lead, 9-7, but High dropped in a kill and Graham recorded another block to swing the lead back in the Sharks favor, 10-9. It was a short-lived lead for NSU as the Lynn took the next five points to go up 14-10.
 
With Lynn holding a 17-14 lead, Sigerich and High combined to block a Brown attack between two Fighting Knights attack errors and the Sharks evened the match. Sigerich then put the Sharks ahead, 18-17, with a kill on the very next point. Lynn quickly shifted the set back in its favor and capitalized on the next few points with a service ace and Brown capped the match with her match-leading 17th kill to give the Fighting Knights a 25-21 set win and 3-1 match victory.
 
Graham paced NSU with 13 kills to go with three solo blocks and a blocking assist. Sigerich trailed her by one with 12 kills, while also assisting on three blocks. The Fighting Knights had three players reach double-digit kills as Cox (16) and Lizzy Raffa (10) joined Brown. The Sharks out-blocked the Fighting Knights, nine to six, in the match.

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