Box Score FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern volleyball team broke its 12-game losing streak and completed the season-sweep of the Embry-Riddle Eagles with a 3-0 victory on Saturday afternoon in the Rick Case Arena.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
FINAL: W, 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-15)
RECORDS: Nova Southeastern Sharks (5-14, 3-9 SSC), Embry-Riddle Eagles (11-9, 6-8 SSC)
LOCATION: Rick Case Arena | Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
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HOW IT HAPPENED:
SET 1 | The Sharks jumped out to a 4-0 lead and never looked back, carrying their lead the entire set. NSU grabbed its largest lead of the set, 18-10, thanks to a service ace by
Jane Early. Embry-Riddle attempted to rally, but failed, coming within two, 22-20, but kill bye
Denvyr Tyler-Palmer and an Eagle error put the Sharks on top, 25-20.
SET 2 | Identical to the first set, Nova Southeastern jumped out to a 4-0 advantage, but had the lead stolen from them at 11-10. The two teams battled back and forth, tying the match six times until at 16-16, the Sharks put up three consecutive points to take back the lead and not let go. After a 4-0 run by NSU to earn a 24-19 edge, the Eagles responded with a 3-0 run of their own, but a kill by Tyler-Palmer sealed the 25-22 victory for the Sharks.
SET 3 | It was the Eagles in set three to grab the early lead, but at 8-7 in ERAU's favor, the Sharks exploded for a 13-1 run to earn a 19-9 lead and force the Eagles to surrender both of their timeouts within that span. At 21-10, Embry-Riddle took advantage of Shark errors and a kill by Theresa Jordan, and NSU called for a timeout to cool off. It was all they needed as the home squad returned to the court for a four-point run to close out the match with a dominating 25-15 win.
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INSIDE THE STATS:
- Denvyr Tyler-Palmer led the game with 19 kills and added eight digs.
- Kim Blasko hit an outstanding .545, collecting 13 kills on 22 attempts with only one error.
- Samantha Blasko recorded six kills on eight attempts, finishing with a .750 percentage, while adding 33 assists and two service aces.
- Megan Burns took control of the defense, picking up 13 digs to go along with four assists.
- The Sharks dished out nine service aces, three coming from Rachael Nelson.
- NSU was also solid at the net, out-blocking the Eagles 8-5, including a solo block from Jane Early.
- As a team, the Sharks out-hit the Eagles, .324 to .186.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:
- Tyler-Palmer moves up to fifth all-time in kills, surpassing Sydney Cook (1,093 kills). She now sits at 1,108.
- Kim Blasko's 16 kills were a career-high, 10 more than her previous career-high of six.
- The Sharks' .324 hitting percentage was their highest since Sept. 2, 2016 against Arkansas Monticello (.362).
UP NEXT
The Sharks will host Lynn on Tuesday, Oct. 31 at 7:00 p.m. before hitting the road for back-to-back weekends.
SHARKS ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
Follow along with live updates on Twitter by following @NSU_VBALL.