OFFICIAL TOURNAMENT WEBSITE - LIVE STATS
AIKEN, S.C. – The Nova Southeastern University volleyball team is looking to rebound from their 1-3 start at the Shark Classic opening weekend by traveling to South Carolina for the USC-Aiken Volleyball Invitational. There, the Sharks will face four tough regional competitors including the 15
th-ranked Flagler Saints and the 20
th-ranked Wingate Bulldogs to open the tournament.
Last weekend, the Sharks hosted their Sixth Annual Shark Classic on the Fort Lauderdale, Fla. main campus to open the 2012 season. NSU opened with a 3-0 win over Merrimack, but struggled down the stretch with 3-1 losses to Texas A&M International, Wayne State and preseason ranked Wheeling Jesuit.
“We played some good competition early which gave us the ability to work on some of our weaknesses,” head coach Steve Wilcosky said. “We saw several moments of greatness, however, we need to make our play more consistent. This weekend should present another great challenge for us and I’m looking forward to seeing how well we respond coming out of last weekend’s tournament.”
Heading into this weekend of strong play, the Sharks will be looking toward the senior leadership of
Danielle Graham(Cincinnati, Ohio),
Jordan Pappas (Naperville, Ill.) and
Paige Boivin (Plainfield, Ill.). Graham opened the 2012 season as she left off last year leading the team in kills (55), kills per set (3.67) and just under a block per set. Pappas guided the Shark offense to a .202 team hitting percentage while averaging 9.60 assists per set, while Boivin contributed heavily on the defensive side averaging 4.27 digs.
Newcomers
Dana Holger (Fr., Lino Lakes, Minn.) and
Sydney Cook (Fr., Miami, Fla.) both posted solid collegiate starts to the season. Holger recorded double-digit kills in each of her four matches last week and is among the top two kill leaders on the team averaging 3.00 per set. Cook saved her best performance for the last match of the Shark Classic where she put up 13 kills and is currently third on the team averaging 2.21 per game.
NSU will open Invitational with their toughest test of the season facing No. 20 Wingate on Friday at 1 p.m. The Bulldogs enter the tournament after going 4-0 record and not needing any more than three sets to win a match to start the season. Wingate has five players hitting .300 or better anchored by Cory McGowan and Anna Hilton. As a team, the Bulldogs enter the tournament with a team .301 hitting percentage.
That match will be followed by yet another strong test with a faceoff against fellow Florida institution, No. 15 Flagler at 5 p.m. The Saints also enter the tournament undefeated, picking up a trio of wins at the Pirate Season Opener Tournament hosted by Armstrong Atlantic last weekend. They are led by a pair of seniors Casey Gnann and Diane Craine who both were named Peach Belt Specialist and Player of the Week respectively to open the season. Craine is the Saints go to hitter averaging 4.18 kills per set, while Gnann covers the court well averaging 7.09 digs per set.
On Saturday, NSU will face off with the Augusta State Jaguars at 2 p.m. and then immediately facing the tournament host USC-Aiken Pacers at 4 p.m. The Jaguars enter with a 2-1 overall record. Their only loss of the season to date was at the hands of Tusculum on Aug. 31. They will be led by Alex Rohlfing who currently leads the team averaging 2.83 kills per set. The ASU libero will also be expected to cover a lot of ground defensively coming into the match average 5.75 digs per set.
The Sharks will conclude the tournament against the host Pacers immediately following the ASU match. USC enters with a 2-2 record. The Pacers suffered their losses against Newberry and Mount Olive in a season-opening tournament. The two teams are fairly evenly matched offensively with the Sharks hitting .202 as a team, while the Pacers come in hitting .178. Shannon Byers and Ashley Deidrich will be the go to offensive players for USC both averaging 2.73 kills per set.
All results from the tournament can be found on the official tournament website on USA Aiken’s official athletic website at
www.PacerSports.com. The tournament website also has links to all of the participating schools official volleyball web pages. To follow the Sharks live, click the live stats link on
www.NSUSharks.com.
For the latest NSU news and results, be sure to visit
www.NSUSharks.com. To have results sent directly to your cell phone via text message, sign up for SMS text message delivery by
clicking here. For the latest news, be sure to sign up for the Shark Alert E-newsletter by
clicking here.
