FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern volleyball team prepares for possibly their toughest road trip of the season, as they head north to face Rollins and No. 3 Tampa this weekend.
The Sharks (3-9, 0-4 SSC) were on the road a week ago as well, falling to two other Sunshine State Conference schools, Barry and Florida Tech. In the latter match, the first frame went to extra points after NSU was serving for the set, but FIT went take it 26-24 and eventually win 3-0.
Sydney Cook (So., Miami) continues to rank among the conference leaders, now in two categories. She is fifth in points, at 3.59 per set, and is 10th in kills (2.97). Setter
Katie Pyles (Fr., Denver) slots eighth in assists at 7.22.
The Sharks will first face Rollins on Friday in Winter Park, Fla. The Tars (12-4, 2-2 SSC) have lost two of three, both in conference, to Florida Tech and Saint Leo. In between, they defeated Eckerd. In the latest AVCA poll, they received nine votes.
The Tars feature one of the league's top middle blockers in senior Camille Indest. She ranks second among all players in kills (3.48), points (4.26) and hitting percentage (.355). Teammate Jessica Wilson hits at a .345 clip, tying her for third in the SSC, while setter April Jackson has two top-10 nods: aces (second, 0.46) and assists (ninth, 6.59). Also for Rollins is the league's top player in digs per set, Collyn Welsch at 5.09.
On Saturday night, NSU will take on No. 3 Tampa, who sit atop the conference standings at 4-0 and are 12-1 overall. They've won their last five after their only loss of the year, to No. 1 Concordia-St. Paul, the six-time defending national champions. In fact, Concordia took last year's title over Tampa in the NCAA Finals (as well as in 2010).
The Spartans place four players in the SSC's top 10 in hitting percentage: Jackie Neff (.345, tied for third), Jessica Wagner (.331, fifth), Marissa Lisenbee (.317, eighth) and Holly Reschke (.305, 10th). Berkley Whaley leads the squad, and is third in the conference, in kills at 3.20, while Reschke is fifth at 3.17. Whaley is also third in points at 4.01, while Reschke is 10th (3.40).
Tampa leads the conference as a team in four categories (kills, hitting percentage, blocks and assists). In addition, middle blocker Meagan Burke is the SSC's reigning Defensive Player of the Week. She ranks third in the league in blocks (1.14), just ahead of teammate Wagner (fourth with 1.13).
Both matches will be available for free live audio this weekend. You can tune in for the Rollins match
HERE and the Tampa match
HERE. In addition, both schools have premium links available for purchase to view the video broadcasts. To purchase the Rollins match, click
HERE, and for the Tampa match, click
HERE.
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.
