FORT LAUDERDALE -- As the featured athletic event for Nova Southeastern University's 2015 homecoming week, the NSU volleyball team (18-11, 8-6 SSC) dropped a 3-1 Sunshine State Conference decision to the visiting Eckerd Tritons (14-13, 5-9 SSC) on Friday night at the NSU Arena at the Don Taft University Center. The Sharks fell in four sets 26-24, 25-11, 22-25, 25-22.
It was an electrifying atmosphere to say the least as the Sharks hosted Eckerd in a heated SSC battle in front the crowd of 706 that were in attendance. Despite the intense atmosphere and home court advantage, NSU struggled throughout the match to get into an offensive rhythm. Plus, the Sharks dealt with the hot hands of Eckerd's Tjasa Kotnik who finished with 24 kills and a .360 hitting percentage and came up short.
"The NSU community was outstanding tonight," head coach Jenn King said. "The atmosphere was absolutely electric and so much fun to be a part of. Unfortunately we just played too tight and gave Eckerd too many chances to play in system. We need to do a better job playing with confidence tomorrow to give us a shot at a possible win in our final home match of the season."
In the opening frame, NSU fell behind early and big. At one point, the Sharks trailed by eight, 12-4 before head coach Jenn King called a timeout to refocus the team. Coming out of the break, the Sharks began to chip away and went on an 11-2 scoring run that allowed them to take the lead 15-14. Throughout the remainder of the set, NSU led by and many as two, but in the end the Tritons kept it close and eventually regained the lead to win the set 26-24 to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
The pieces fell apart for the Sharks in the second set. After taking an early 2-0 lead, Eckerd managed to get NSU out of their offensive rhythm and dominated the set by hitting an efficient .385 team percentage and outscoring the Sharks 25-11 to take a 2-0 advantage in the match.
With no option left but to win the next set, NSU turned it around in the third. The Sharks jumped out to a much needed 9-4 lead to start the frame, but it didn't take long for Eckerd to come back and tie it up at 10-10. But that didn't stop NSU from going on a 9-2 scoring run to regain the lead 19-12. The Sharks went on to hit .265 in the set and pulled off a 25-22 win to extend play into a fourth set.
In the final set of the match, neither team allowed the other more than a two-point lead through the first 20 points. NSU managed to extend their lead to five at 16-11, but Eckerd went on a 5-1 run that tied it at 17 all and they eventually went on to win the match 3-1 after taking the fourth set 25-22.
As she has done all season, Dana Holger (Sr., Lino Lakes, Minn.) paced NSU's offensive attack with a team-high 19 kills. She added the double-double finishing with 10 digs. Denvyr Tyler-Palmer (Fr., Jacksonville, Fla.) posted 10 kills, while Megan Burns (Fr., Sylvania, Ohio) added a team best 15 digs.
The Sharks will return to action on Saturday hosting Saint Leo at 4 p.m for senior day when NSU will recognize their three seniors Dana Holger, Sydney Cook and Caitlin Donahue at the NSU Arena at the Don Taft University Center.
