Box Score MIAMI SHORES, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern University volleyball team (8-8, 3-4 SSC) fell to the Barry University Buccaneers (10-6, 3-4 SSC), 3-1 (25-14, 19-25, 25-20, 25-18), Tuesday evening.
Sydney Cook (Jr., Miami, Fla.) posted a double-double on the night with 11 kills and 17 digs, followed by
Natalie Melcher (Fr., Rishon Letzion, Isreal), who had eight kills Tuesday with five digs.
Katie Pyles (So., Denver, Colo.) led the team in assists with 24, while
Candice Johnson (Sr., Chuluota, Fla.) notched a team-high 21 digs.
The first points of the match toggled in between the Bucs and Sharks before the Barry rallied three points on a kill, attack error and a service for a 10-7 lead. Led by kills from Cook,
Devyn Main (Fr., Port Charlotte, Fla.) and Pyles, NSU was able to keep the score close before Barry pushed ahead on an 8-1 run for a 20-11 lead. NSU could not side-out for the comeback and Barry's Jayla Trombley closed the set , 25-14, on a deciding kill.
NSU bounced back from the first set to take total control of the second. Just as the previous, there was no leader in score until the nine-point tie, when the Sharks powered up for a 9-1 run. Four errors by the Bucs, with kills from Cook and Melcher, put the first batch of points in, capped by another set of points from Melcher on an ace and kill in addition to two errors by Barry. The Sharks maintained their lead for the rest of the set with a 76 percent hitting percentage and four total blocks, allowing the Bucs to only come within five before closing the set, 25-19.
Continuing with the trend of the match, the Sharks and Bucs fought close for the first advantage of the tiebreaking set. The Sharks jumped out for an early 12-9 lead on two Barry errors before the Bucs fought back and hit three consecutive kills, allowing them to take a 13-12 lead. The Sharks managed to tie the score one more time on a service error, but the Bucs paced the rest of the fourth set by outscoring NSU, 12-7.
The Sharks were not able to tie the match in the fourth set but did not let it go without an early fight. On back-to-back kills by Cook and two Bucs errors, NSU tied the game at six before taking a short-lived one-point lead off a kill by
Courtney Crawford (Jr., Brooksville, Fla.). Three consecutive Shark errors allowed the Bucs to gain a three-point lead before going on an 11-3 run. Down 20-12, the Sharks closed the gap on another kill by Cook and an ace by Johnson, but the Bucs pushed their energy until the end, ending the set and match at 25-18.
The Sharks will return home to host No. 1 Tampa Friday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. in their annual Think Pink game.
