Box Score WINTER PARK, Fla. - The Nova Southeastern University volleyball team
(10-10) suffered a tough 3-1 loss against the University of West Alabama (8-15) Saturday, in their last match of the South Region Crossover Tournament.
Sydney Cook (Jr., Miami, Fla.) notched double digits kills in the game with 14, alongside
Dana Holger (Jr., Lino Lakes, Minn.) who had 12 on the night. Notably,
Caitlin Donahue (Jr., Miami, Fla.) went 6-for-11 in the match for a .545 hitting percentage.
Katie Pyles (So., Denver, Colo.) pulled a double-double with 35 assists and 15 digs while
Kaelyn Brock (La Quinta, Calif. ) had a team high 21 digs.
The opening set saw seven ties before the Sharks took the first marginal lead of the game at 12-9, on a kill by Holger and two UWA errors. West Alabama cut their deficit with a kill and service ace and forced two more ties in the set. With the score tied at 16, UWA scored four consecutive points that gave them the lead to take them through the rest of the set before closing it on a kill, 25-19.
Carrying their momentum from the first set, the Tigers opened the second set with a four-point roll for an early lead. Down 11-5, the Sharks had a 5-1 run on a kill by
Natalie Melcher (Fr., Rishon Letzion, Israel), two aces from Pyles and two errors to cut the margin to two, 12-10. West Alabama regained a strong lead for the remainder of the set before the Sharks took a late side out at 24-18. NSU scared UWA on a late five-point rally, on a pair of kills by Cook and Melcher and an error that tied the game, but West Alabama closed the set on a kill for the 2-0 set win.
NSU was not ready to go home on the third set. The Sharks created an early 8-5 lead on a four-point rally and held UWA to a two-point margin for the rest of the set. West Alabama was able to come within two at 12-10, but the Sharks scored five in a row on one kill and four errors to create a six-point difference. NSU pushed their lead on their second five-point spree of the match to avoid the sweep, 25-19.
Both teams forced 16 ties and six lead changes before UWA took the match-ending win. There were five early ties in the set before UWA created the first marginal lead at 11-8. NSU created the sixth tie of the set on a kill and four West Alabama errors at 12 as the next six points bounced in-between the teams. UWA ended atop the end of the last tie, 17-15, but the Sharks drew in another four points to create a 19-17 lead. The battle continued into the end of the set, forcing the game into extra points with a tie at 24 on a kill by Holger. However, UWA managed to close the set on two consecutive kills, 26-24.
The Sharks head back to conference play next weekend to face Eckerd in St. Petersburg, Florida, on Friday, Oct. 24 at 7 p.m.
