Box Score
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern volleyball team had late leads in all four sets of Friday's match with Florida Southern, but fell to the visiting Panthers at the NSU Arena, 3-1 (26-24, 14-25, 25-22, 25-19).
The Sharks (5-17, 1-10 SSC) and FIT (15-10, 5-6 SSC) played even all throughout the contest, with 15 ties and seven lead changes. In the opening set, the Panthers got out ahead early and led 15-9 midway through. They extended the lead to as many as eight (19-11) before the Sharks made their first comeback of the evening.
From that point, NSU went on an 11-2 run to take their first advantage of the night at 22-21. That was midway through a seven-serve rally by
Dana Holger (So., Lino lakes, Minn.) that saw her get two aces and a kill. She had five total kills in the frame.
The Sharks had set point up 24-22 after a kill from
Laurel Weaver (Fr., Woodland Hills, Calif.), one of her five in the first as well. But FIT tied it on two straight kills, took the lead on an ace, and won the set 26-24 on an NSU attack error.
Set two would have no drama comparatively, as the Sharks trailed 1-0 and 2-1, but never again. They took a set-high 10-point lead at 17-7 and again at 23-13, and took advantage of 13 FIT errors to win the set going away, 25-14. NSU hit .450 as a team in the period with 10 kills against just one attack error.
FIT started out hot in the third, leading 6-1 and 11-5. Again, the Sharks would have a healthy run to come back, this time 7-0 for a 12-11 lead. The spurt included two aces by Weaver, two kills by
Sydney Cook (So., Miami) and another by Holger.
Points were back and forth through the midpoint of the set, with ties at 14-14 and 15.-15 The Panthers had a five-point cushion at 23-19, but two straight for the Sharks on a kill by Sydney Cook and an attack error made it 23-21. The teams traded errors for set point, and FIT took a 2-1 lead on another error with a 25-22 decision.
The fourth and final set again saw an early spurt by the visitors, this time going up 5-1. Again, the Sharks came back, tying it at 8-8 and 10-10, and eventually taking three-point leads on two occasions (15-12 and 16-13).
However, at that last margin, FIT would score six straight to go up 19-16. A kill by Cook ended the drought, and a Panther error cut their lead to one (19-18). The Panthers would end the set and match on a 6-1 run from that point on, earning their 15th victory of the season.
Holger and Cook would combine for 29 kills in the loss, Holger leading all players with 15, just one ahead of her teammate. Weaver chipped in with eight.
Katie Pyles (Fr., Denver) had her second-highest assist mark of her career with 39 in the loss. Likewise,
Candice Johnson (Jr., Chuluota, Fla.) tallied 21 digs for her second-most of the year, and was joined in double digits by Weaver with 12.
The Sharks are right back at it for another 7 p.m. first serve time against Barry at the NSU Arena on Saturday. The Buccaneers notched their only SSC win against NSU earlier in the season.
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