Box Score FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern University volleyball team (7-4, 2-0 SSC) overcame Sunshine State Conference foe Eckerd (7-3, 0-2 SSC), 3-2, in dramatic fashion in the NSU Arena at the Don Taft University Center Saturday, Sept. 20. The win pushes the Sharks to their first back-to-back set of SSC wins since Sept. 20, 2009.
The Sharks tallied a season high 13.5 blocks, with 17 assisted and five solo in the match.
Sydney Cook (Jr., Miami, Fla.) led the team in solo blocks with three while posting a double-double with a team high 16 kills and 13 digs.
Dana Holger (Jr., Lino Lakes, Minn.) also notched a double-double with 15 kills and 11 digs adding to the net with one solo block.
Natalie Melcher (Fr., Reshon Letzion, Isreal) also had double digit kills with ten and had one solo block.
Katie Pyles (So., Denver, Colo.) led the team with 21 assists while
Candice Johnson (Sr., Chuluota, Fla.) tallied a team high 20 digs.
The opening set foreshadowed what the rest of the match would look like as 11 ties and four lead changes occurred before NSU forced the close at 29-27. The Sharks took an early 15-12 lead before the Tritons rallied three points on two kills to tie the score at 15. After another four ties, the score tied at 19 before the Sharks pulled away from the Tritons. On a kill by Cook, followed by an ace by Johnson, the Tritons made an attack error to put the Sharks up, 22-19. The Tritons jumped up from the deficit on back-to-back kills for the sixth tie of the night at 22. The teams would exchange the next 10 points, with their hitting percentage mirroring exactly that, with only a three percent difference (NSU 67%, Eckerd 64%). With the score at 27, two consecutive Triton errors forced a 29-27 NSU win.
The battle continued into the second set with three ties happening before Eckerd pulled away for the lead at 10. The Sharks fought for the advantage throughout the set but were not able to come out on top. The Sharks threatened Eckerd's advantage off back-to-back kills by Holger, who went 5-for-9 in the set, to tie the score at 16. A kill by Eckerd's Tjasa Kotnik put the Tritons up by one before Holger tied the game again on a kill to the right. With the score at 17, Eckerd earned the three points that would give them the lead to eventually win the set, 25-21, and tie the match at one.
The Tritons carried their momentum from the second set into the third, taking an early 10-5 lead and never looking back. Eckerd closed the set on two consecutive kills and won, 25-14, to take a 2-1 match lead.
With the game on the line, the Sharks recuperated from the third set and held the lead for the entire fourth to tie the overall score. NSU built their biggest margin in the match at 17-11 on three of Cook's six set kills. Donahue contributed two kills alongside an ace by
Kaelyn Brock (Fr., La Quinta, Calif) to close the set for the Sharks, 25-21.
As in the latter sets, the winner of the fifth set was not seen until its last points. The Tritons held an early 9-4 lead before the Sharks came up from the deficit and took the advantage. After an error by the Tritons, Hogler notched a kill before two Eckerd errors allowed the Sharks to the tie game at nine. Things looked rough for NSU late in the set, but the home squad pushed the score to 13-11 NSU on kills from Holger and Cook, followed by a service ace from Johnson. NSU allowed one more point from Eckerd before closing the set and match, 15-12.
The Sharks go on a five-day break before returning to the road to face Florida Tech in Melbourne, Fla. on Sept. 26 at 7 p.m.
