Box Score BOCA RATON, Fla. – In an exciting five-set thriller, the Nova Southeastern volleyball team picked up its first Sunshine State Conference win over host Lynn University on Friday evening (15-25, 25-19, 21-25, 25-18, 15-5).
The Sharks snapped the Fighting Knights' six-game winning streak and improved their overall record to 6-3. With the loss, Lynn falls to 6-2.
The Knights came out of the gates strong, leading by as many as nine points (17-8) in the first set, eventually winning 25-15.
The momentum looked as though it continued to the second set with the Knights, as they jumped ahead 2-0, but three straight kills by
Denvyr Tyler-Palmer and an attack by
Katie Pyles gave the Sharks a 4-3 lead and they never looked back. The Sharks led by at least two points the entire set leading to the 25-19 win.
NSU fell behind early in set three, 5-0, as Lynn's Lydia West tallied three of the five first points. Down 15-7, a kill by Tyler-Palmer sparked a six-point run to bring the Sharks within three (15-12), but the Knights pulled away and regained the advantage (19-13) on a 4-1 streak. Despite being late in the match, NSU showed their strength and fought back to come within one, 22-21, but it wasn't enough as the Sharks fell just short a couple plays later, 25-21.
Set four was a battle early on, as the two teams were neck and neck, staying within a point of each other until a kills by
Jenn Rosado and
Jessica Ronyak and an ace by Sam Blasko gave the Sharks its biggest lead of the set at that point, 11-7. From there, Nova Southeastern took off on a 12-8 run, capped by another kill by Ronyak, to pull ahead, 23-15. The Knights fought back, tallying three points in a row, but failed to rally and NSU took game four, 25-18, forcing the decision set.
NSU let its system do its job in the fifth set, dismantling the home team with a 15-5 win. Early on, the two teams bounced back and forth, until back-to-back errors by the Knights gave the Sharks a 5-2 edge. Kills by Roynak and Tyler-Palmer gave NSU an even greater advantage, taking an 8-3 lead into the changeover. From there, NSU showed its strength and resilience, going on a 7-2 run to take home the victory.
Roynak notched a season-high 21 kills, leading any player of the match, and added four digs. Tyler-Palmer tallied 17 kills, 12 digs and two blocks while
Natalie Melcher added three blocks and two service aces.
Megan Burns had 13 digs to go along with three aces and
Maddie Uilk tallied three solo-blocks and one block assist. Pyles contributed 36 assists and four blocks.
The SSC battle continues tomorrow, Sept. 17, as the Sharks travel to Miami Shores to take on Barry University at 4:00 p.m.
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