BOX SCORE

TAMPA, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern volleyball team (7-19, 3-11 SSC) dropped its final road match of the season Friday evening, falling at No. 5 Tampa, 3-1 (25-20, 21-25, 25-8, 25-21).
 
The match opened with a split of the first 12 points, as a trio of NSU attackers recorded kills. Samantha High (So., Naples, Fla.) tallied a pair, while Rachel Woodson (Jr., Rogers, Ark.) and Danielle Graham (Jr., Cincinnati, Ohio) each scored one. Graham also teamed with Anabely Escarpita (Sr., Boca Raton, Fla.) to earn the Sharks first block of the match.
 
The Spartans were then able to open up a three-point lead, 10-7, that brought out a Sharks timeout. NSU recovered though, getting kills from Graham and Escarpita to knot the score at 10-10. Despite four late kills for the Sharks, two from Graham and Escarpita each, NSU was unable to hold off the Spartans strong offense, with Tampa taking the opener, 25-20.
 
The Sharks got out to a 4-2 advantage in the second set as Escarpita added two more kills to her total. The Spartans were able to go ahead by one, 8-7, but a kill by High and a solo block from Graham put the Sharks back on top. NSU went up by three, 16-13, midway through the set following a solo block from High and a service ace from Molly Sigerich (Sr., Downers Grove, Ill.).
 
The Sharks lead extended to four points, 19-15, after High slammed two more kills and Paige Boivin (Jr., Plainfield, Ill.) converted a service ace. The Spartans would come as close as two points on a pair of occasions, but kills from Escarpita and High secured the set for the Sharks, 25-21, and evened the match a 1-1. Escarpita racked up five kills with a .400 hitting percentage in the set.
 
Tampa came out firing in the early portion of the third set, building a 9-3 lead, as four Spartans notched kills. Danielle Selkridge, the SSC leader in hitting percentage at .520, who had seen limited action before the third set, came in and recorded three kills for the Spartans.
 
Jordan Pappas (Jr., Naperville, Ill.) would record a service ace for the Sharks, but NSU would struggle to find its offensive rhythm, as the Spartans cruised to a 25-8 set victory behind seven kills from Selkridge.
 
The Spartans momentum continued into the fourth set, jumping out to a 5-0 lead that forced NSU to call a timeout. Graham got the Sharks on the board with a kill at 7-1, and added another two points later. The Sharks rallied to close the gap to four points, 12-8, with Sigerich and Woodson sandwiching kills around a Tampa attack error.
 
NSU continued to battle and after a kill and service ace from Escarpita, the Sharks were within two at 18-16. After a Tampa point, the Sharks scored the next three, including kills from Sigerich and Woodson to tie the set at 19-19 and force a Spartans timeout.
 
The break helped shift the set back in the Spartans favor as they won six of the final eight points to take the set 25-21, and the match 3-1.
 
Two Sharks, Graham and Escarpita, and Jessica Yingling from Tampa, tallied match-highs with 13 kills apiece. Pappas recorded a double-double for NSU with 38 assists and 11 digs. Friday’s match was the first time in the past seven matches that the Sharks were out-blocked, recording three team blocks to the Spartans eight.

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