FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern volleyball team fell in straight sets to the visiting Lions of Saint Leo University on Friday evening in the NSU Arena. With the loss, the Sharks fall to 12-18 overall and 4-11 in league play, while the win clinches the SSC title for the Lions as they improve to 20-10 and 12-4 against conference opponents.
In her second-to-last match as a Shark,
Tashalyn Begon led the team with 11 kills and added three blocks.
Jessica Ronyak and
Denvyr Tyler-Palmer tallied seven kills and
Natalie Melcher posted six blocks. Tyler-Palmer also had 16 digs.
Megan Burns recorded 21 digs and
Katie Pyles registered a double-double with 27 assists along with 16 digs.
Down 14-10 in the first set, the Sharks rattled off three straight points to come within one, 14-13, and continued to put the pressure on the Lions until the set was tied at 19-19 apiece. Errors by SLU gave NSU its first lead of the set, 21-20, and after a kill by Hope Lemon, the Sharks tallied three more points to get in winning position. Errors and SLU's strong offense proved to be NSU's downfall as Saint Leo went on a four-point run to take back the lead, 25-24, and after exchanging points twice, the Lions emerged victorious, 28-26.
Tied 2-2 in the second, the Lions took off on a 6-1 run to grab an 8-3 edge. Saint Leo continued to lead way out in front until at 21-12, the Sharks took advantage of a 9-3 run, highlighted by Tyler-Palmer's three-consecutive aces, to come within two at 23-21. NSU's rally was halted, however, after back-to-back errors gave the Lions the 25-21 win and overall 2-0 lead.
With Saint Leo ahead 16-9 in the third, a timeout called by the Sharks gave them the boost they needed, as they came off the bench to go on a 10-2 to steal the lead, 19-18. The Lions took advantage of errors by the Sharks and a kill by Anna Garrett to take back the lead, 21-19, but the Sharks were able to get back in the game and knot things up 22-22 with a Ronyak kill. Her kill would serve as the last point recorded by NSU, however, as a service errors and back-to-back kills by the Lion offense would end the set, 25-22.
The Sharks will compete in their last match of 2016 tomorrow in the NSU Arena at 4:00 p.m. Prior to the match, Nova Southeastern will honor its four seniors: Begon, Melcher, Pyles and Ronyak. Live stats and video will be available at NSUSharks.com.
