Box Score
TAMPA, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern volleyball team hung tough with No. 3 Tampa to start before falling in three sets on Saturday evening, 25-19, 25-11, 25-16.
The first saw the Sharks (3-11, 0-6 SSC) lead throughout the beginning third of the set. Tampa wasn't ahead until 10-9, and back-to-back kills by
Sakkara Hart (Fr., Vero Beach, Fla.) gave the frame its third tie at 14-14. NSU pulled to within one at 19-18, and a kill by
Dana Holger (So., Lino Lakes, Minn.) later kept the deficit within two at 21-19. But UT scored the last four points of the set to take a 1-0 lead.
As a team, the Sharks hit .222 in the period and only committed six errors against 13 kills. Hart and
Sydney Cook (So., Miami) had four kills each, with Hart hitting .571 in the set, while
Katie Pyles (Fr., Denver) had 10 assists.
The Spartans (14-1, 6-0 SSC) got off to a fast start in the second, with an 8-1 lead. The Sharks did manage to cut an 18-4 margin to 19-9, but a 6-2 Tampa spurt ended the frame.
The third started out more like the first, with NSU up 4-1. The largest spread either way the first half of the set was three on six different occasions. It was 15-13 Tampa before they scored four straight, in what would eventually be a 10-3 ending to both the set and the match.
Cook led all players with 12 kills and hit for her third-highest percentage of the season at .345. Holger had six kills while Hart equaled her career high of a night ago with five.
Pyles assisted on 23 of the team's 27 kills on the night.
Candice Johnson (Jr., Chuluota, Fla.) was the lone player on either team with double-digit digs as she totalled 13.
The Sharks will next participate in the South Region Crossover next weekend in Carrollton, Ga. They will play West Alabama (2 p.m.) and Palm Beach Atlantic (7 p.m.) next Friday, Oct. 18, and finish up against Shorter at 11:30 a.m. the following day.
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