WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Coming off a successful conference weekend, the Nova Southeastern University volleyball team (16-9, 7-5 SSC) will be road warriors this week with three matches on the schedule that will take them to opposing gyms across the Sunshine State. It will all begin on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. when the Sharks travel to West Palm Beach to face the No. 14 Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish at the Rubin Arena.
 
The Sharks are definitely riding high coming off a 2-1 week. Despite an early week loss to Barry, NSU returned to the NSU Arena and began a weekend of strong competition by first knocking off the No. 17 Florida Southern Moccasins 3-2. It was the first time since 2009 NSU had defeated FSC and was a much needed confidence builder for the remainder of the season. The Sharks eventually closed out the weekend on Saturday with a 3-1 win over Florida Tech, which completed the season sweep over the Panthers.
 
The two weekend wins allowed NSU to move into the third spot in the Sunshine State Conference standings, but the big story from the weekend was on Megan Burns (Fr., Sylvania, Ohio). Burns became the only player this season to surpass the 25-dig mark. She finished with a career best 31 digs against Florida Southern and later closed out the weekend with 33 digs against Florida Tech. She became the first freshman in school history to eclipse the 30-dig mark in a single match and the first player since 2001 to post back-to-back matches with 30-plus digs. For her performance, she was named the SSC's Defensive Player of the Week, the first for NSU this season.
 
As things are starting to come together for the Sharks, they will be facing a highly touted team in the Sailfish on Tuesday. Earlier this season, NSU hosted PBA at the NSU Arena and suffered a three-set loss. On Tuesday, the Sharks will be carrying a ton of momentum into the match and are looking to even the season series between the two teams.
 
As a conference provisional member, the Sailfish enter Tuesday night's match with an overall 21-3 record and ranked 14^th in the latest AVCA (American Volleyball Coaches Association) top-25 national poll. PBA has won their last 11 straight matches of the season, most recently toping Eckerd 3-2 this past Saturday. Their last loss of the season came on Oct. 3 when they fell to No. 2 Tampa on the road, 3-1. The Sailfish will be led by outside hitter Faith Rohn who is averaging 3.52 kills and 2.88 digs per set. Defensively, PBA's Rachael Holehouse covers the backcourt extremely well averaging 5.16 digs per set.
 
Junior setting Katie Pyles (Denver, Colo.) will be looking to drive the Sharks' offensively against the Sailfish as well as support their defense. This season she has posted 10 double-double performances in digs and assists as well as one triple-double. Her 9.21 assists per set also ranks fourth among the league setters. Dana Holger (Sr., Lino Lakes, Minn.) has been NSU's dominant force offensively averaging 3.57 kills per set, which ranks fourth among the SSC hitters. Senior Caitlin Donahue (Miami, Fla.) will anchor the middle. Recent performances offensively have propelled Donahue to second in the league in hitting percentage, while she has added a career-high 15 kills twice since the Sharks began the second half of SSC play.
 
Both live stats and video streaming will be available for Tuesday night's match by visiting www.NSUSharks.com.