TAMPA, Fla. – The NSU volleyball team fell in four sets (25-20, 12-25, 16-25, 18-25) to No. 20 Tampa on Friday evening. With the loss, the Sharks fall to 11-9 overall and 3-4 in the Sunshine State Conference while Tampa improves to 14-5 overall and 5-3 in league play.
 
Maddie Uilk was on fire in the SSC battle, leading the Sharks with 12 kills, a career high. The sophomore middle blocker also added three blocks. Jessica Ronyak and Tashalyn Begon each added nine kills and Katie Pyles contributed 27 assists and two aces. Megan Burns picked up a match-high 24 digs.
 
Down 14-12 in the first set, the Sharks used a 9-1 run kickstarted with a kill by Uilk to grab a 21-15 advantage, forcing Tampa to use their last timeout. Kills by Uilk and Begon and a service error by the Spartans put the Sharks in game-winning position, 24-17, before Tampa rattled off three straight points to make the set score 24-20. A kill by Pyles finished the set, and the Sharks grabbed their only win of the night, 25-20.
 
In the second set, it was a different Sopartans team that came out onto the court and played flawless volleyball. TU dominated offensively hitting .812 as a team and did not commit one offensive error en route to a 25-12 win to even the match at 1-1. After four different ties to start the match, Tampa pulled away with five straight points and never looked back, holding the Sharks to a .000 hitting percentage.
 
Tampa took the lead early in set three, 4-0, and allowed NSU to tie things up 8-8 before pulling away, using small runs to end up on top, 25-16, and grab a 2-1 advantage overall.
 
Down 15-13 in the fourth, NSU rallied back and took the lead, 16-15, before Tampa took off on a 9-1 run to push them to 24-17, before an error by the Sharks ended the match.
 
Nova Southeastern will compete again on Saturday against yet another tough SSC team, Saint Leo. The match is slated to begin at 4:00 p.m. and will only have live stats available, which can be found HERE.