SAINT LEO, Fla. – Down two sets to none, the Sharks rallied back to force a fifth set, but ultimately fell short, 3-2 (25-27, 22-25, 25-20, 25-22, 16-18) to the Lions of Saint Leo University on Saturday afternoon. NSU's third-straight loss drops their overall record to 11-10 and 3-5 against Sunshine State Conference opponents, while Saint Leo improves to 13-8 overall and 6-2 in league play.
Jessica Ronyak led all players with 18 kills and made it a double-double, scooping up 10 digs.
Denvyr Tyler-Palmer also recorded a double-double with 16 kills and 16 digs and
Katie Pyles contributed 47 assists to go along with eight kills and 12 digs.
Megan Burns recorded 27 digs and Sam Blasko had 11, and both players had two aces.
Up 22-20 in the first set, the Lions used three-consecutive points to take a one-point lead before a kill by Ronyak tied the match 23-23. After two more ties, back-to-back kills by Katie Adamson pushed the Lions to an extra-points set-one win, 27-25.
The Sharks held the lead throughout most of the second set before the Lions went on a four point run at 19-17 to steal the lead from NSU, 21-19. Errors plagued the Sharks in the last few points, giving the Lions three points en route to their 25-22 win.
After the break, the Sharks decided enough was enough and used a late rally to take set three, 25-20. Down 20-18, NSU turned on the jets and took off on a 7-0 run sparked by back-to-back kills by Ronyak to bring the overall score to 2-1 in Saint Leo's favor.
Nova Southeastern's offense was on fire in set four, as the Sharks hit a match-high .333 as a team. With the score at 8-7 in SLU's favor, the Sharks went on an 8-1 run to go ahead, 15-9. The Lions were able to rally and come within one at 21-20, but NSU kept pressing and remained in the lead throughout the rest of the set, before kills by Ronyak and Begon pushed the Sharks to a 25-22 win and forced a fifth and final set.
In the fifth set, the Lions were up 4-3 before NSU capitalized on a kill by Tyler-Palmer and errors committed by Saint Leo to take the lead, 6-4. The Sharks continued to put up points, and grabbed their largest lead of the set at 14-9 with yet another kill by Ronyak. Saint Leo wouldn't surrender, however, and put up six-straight points to put themselves in game-winning position at 15-14. Back-to-back errors made by Saint Leo put NSU back in the lead, 16-15, before a kill by Hope Lemon and unfortunate Shark errors sealed the match for the Lions, 18-16.
The Sharks will play again at home this Tuesday at 7:00 p.m., as they will host fellow SSC member, Lynn. For live stats and video, please visit NSUSharks.com.
