BOX SCORE

FLORENCE, Ala. – The Nova Southeastern women’s volleyball team (1-4) weathered numerous attacks from Harding (5-1) Thursday evening, but the Sharks battled through and came out with their first win of the season, downing the Lady Bison, 3-2 (22-25, 25-23, 25-17, 25-27, 15-9) in the opening match of the North Alabama Classic.

Through the first 20 points of the opening set, the Sharks and Lady Bison traded tallies, equaling the score at 10-10. Rachel Woodson (Jr., Rogers, Ark.) tallied two kills for NSU in the early stages of the set. Harding managed to open up a 17-11 lead midway through the first set following a trio of kills from Mollie Arnold.

With the Lady Bison leading 22-15, the Sharks took to the offensive as Anabely Escarpita (Sr., Boca Raton, Fla.) and Danielle Graham (Jr., Cincinnati, Ohio) notched kills to go with an Arnold attack error to close the gap to four, 22-18, forcing a Harding timeout. Following the break in play, Julia Lopez (So., El Paso, Texas) continued the comeback for the Sharks with her third kill of the opener. NSU rallied to within 24-22, but an Alex Smith kill for the Lady Bison secured the first set for Harding.

Escarpita got things going early in the second set for the Sharks, slamming three kills to keep NSU within two, 5-3. After the Lady Bison built a 13-7 advantage, the Sharks began to mount a similar comeback to the first set, reeling off five straight points. Escarpita added two more kills, while blocking a Harding attack with teammate Molly Sigerich (Sr., Downers Grove, Ill.). Sigerich also recorded her first kill of the match during the Sharks run.

Lopez, assisted by Jordan Pappas (Jr., Naperville, Ill.), got the Sharks within one, 14-13, with her fourth kill of the match. A Harding attack error knotted the score for the first time since the 10-10 to begin the match. Graham and Escarpita each tallied another kill to give the Sharks an 18-17, but three straight Lady Bison points put Harding back ahead and forced a NSU timeout. At 22-22, Lopez notched two more kills to give the Sharks a 24-23 lead before a Lady Bison attack error finished off the second set in NSU’s favor.

The Sharks opened the third set in commanding fashion, taking a 13-8 lead as Escarpita recorded four kills, while Graham added two. NSU pushed the lead to 20-15 as Lopez sandwiched kills around a Kelly McMahon (Jr., Madison, Wisc.) service ace, forcing Harding’s second timeout of the set. The stop in play could not halt the Sharks momentum, as NSU went on to take five of the last seven points of the set and a 2-1 match lead.

The beginning of the fourth set mirrored that of the first, as the teams traded points, tying the score at 7-7. The Lady Bison were able to create some separation with kills from Jordan Smith, A. Smith and Arnold to build a 12-8 lead that brought a timeout from the Sharks bench.

NSU once again rallied, as four Sharks recorded kills following the break in play. Two consecutive attack errors from Harding give the Sharks the lead, 15-14. The Lady Bison rebounded and took a short-lived 19-18 lead before Graham and Kristina Eric (So., Sokolac, Bosnia) scored kills to put the Sharks back on top. The two squads would exchange points through the remainder of the set, but it would be Harding that pulled out a 27-25 win to force a decisive fifth set.

The Lady Bison came out firing in the fifth set, opening an early 5-0 lead. The Sharks would surge back though and tie the set, 5-5, sparked by a Graham smash. NSU continued to add points to the scoreboard, increasing its lead to 11-8 as Graham and Sigerich blocked a J. Smith attack. Graham then paired with Eric to record the Sharks 15th block of the match and push the lead to 13-9. McMahon capped the win for the Sharks, placing a fantastic service ace to secure the fifth set 15-9, and the match 3-2 for NSU.

Escarpita led all Sharks with 20 kills in the match to go with 14 digs. Graham and Lopez each contributed double-digit kills with 12 and 11, respectively. Eric and Pappas combined for 52 assists with each tallying 26 for NSU. In yet another dominating show at the net, the Sharks out blocked the Lady Bison, 15.0-5.0.

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