FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – After spending the five weekends on the road, the Nova Southeastern volleyball team will return to the NSU Arena to host a pair of Sunshine State Conference matches. On Friday, the Sharks (11-13, 3-8 SSC) will host SSC provisional member, Embry-Riddle (11-11) at 7:00 p.m. before turning around face Rollins (10-13, 2-7 SSC) on Saturday at 4:00 p.m.
The Sharks are looking to turn the tables after dropping the last five of their matches against SSC foes. In their most recent outing, NSU nearly pulled off the road upset, but lost to the host Moccasins of Florida Southern College in five sets (21-25, 25-22, 25-16, 17-25, 10-15).
Denvyr Tyler-Palmer achieved her second double-double in as many days, leading the team with 22 kills and adding 10 digs.
Katie Pyles also had a double-double, as she notched 43 assists with 15 digs, in addition to eight kills.
Megan Burns recorded 24 digs, while
Jane Early and
Jenn Rosado each had career highs with seven and five kills, respectively.
In their last meeting in early October, the Sharks grabbed a 3-1 win over the Eagles. In the all-time series between the two teams, NSU holds the advantage in matches won, 15-10.
As a team, the Eagles are averaging 10.8 kills per set and are holding opponents to an overall .179 hitting percentage. Amanda Saunders and Asya Oguz are currently leading the Eagle offense, averaging 2.49 and 2.04 kills per set, respectively. On the defensive side, Olivia Roa and Maile Spenser control the back row, picking up 4.09 and 3.45 digs per set.
The Sharks will look to complete the season sweep over the Tars on Saturday as well, after picking up a 3-1 over the host team last month. Rollins currently holds a 23-13 advantage over the Sharks since the two teams started playing each other.
Although ranked in the bottom half of the conference offensively, Rollins has a couple of power hitters steering the way for the Tars. Ranked second and third in the conference, Shannon McDonough and Bri Civiero currently average 4.17 and 4.15 kills per set, respectively. Rollins' libero, Rebecca Wilson is the strength of the Tars' defense, grabbing 4.45 digs per set.
Live stats and video streaming will be provided for both games at NSUSharks.com. Follow @NSUSharks on Twitter and Instagram for updates.
