ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern volleyball team earned their first road victory of the season, defeating the Eckerd Tritons in three sets in a Sunshine State Conference match on Friday evening.
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
FINAL: W, 3-0 (25-19, 26-24, 25-22)
RECORDS: Nova Southeastern Sharks (9-6, 2-5 SSC), Eckerd Tritons (11-4, 4-3 SSC)
LOCATION: McArthur Center | St. Petersburg, Fla.
FOLLOW US: @NSUSHARKS on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
SET 1 | The match started fairly even, but after an Alex Boone kill tied the set at 7, the Sharks went on an 11-3 run, including five points in a row to take a commanding 18-10 lead. The Tritons got close with six straight of their own, but the Sharks responded with three more and five of the next six to keep Eckerd at bay, before winning the opener, 25-19.
 
SET 2 | The Sharks were dominant to start the second set, scoring the first five points, with a trio of kills by Ally Ford, before jumping out to an even larger 13-2 lead, thanks to three more kills each by Ford and Boone. The Tritons finally got something going themselves by cutting the margin to 13-8. The Sharks put an end to the rally with back-to-back kills by Sami Spadaro. After going back and forth for the next several points, another Sami Spadaro kill gave the Sharks set point at 24-16. Once again, however, the Tritons refused to go down without a fight, tying the set at 24 with eight consecutive points. After seeing their entire lead disappear, the Sharks fought back, re-taking the lead with a kill by Emily Sippel to put the Sharks at set point again and this time, they made it count, as an Aleyna Kennel service ace gave the Sharks the match lead of two sets to none.
 
SET 3 | The third set started the opposite as set two, as Eckerd jumped out to an 8-2 lead, before Amanda Hall and Brittany Landrum teamed up for a block to end a 5-0 Triton run. The Sharks kept the deficit at a manageable distance and went on a 5-0 run of their own to take their first lead of the set 13-12. A pair of kills for the Tritons put them ahead again by a one-point margin, but, starting with a kill from Spadaro, the Sharks reeled off eight more in a row and led, 21-14. Alex Boone added another kill for match point at 24-19, but Eckerd continued to fight back, getting within two points at 24-22. Finally, Boone and Ford paired up for the match-clinching block.
 
INSIDE THE STATS:
 

• Ford recorded a team-high 13 kills on just 26 attacks, hitting .385 and contributing eight digs and a pair of blocks.
• Boone and Spadaro were not far behind with nine kills each. Boone had an attack percentage of .643 and did not commit a single error, while Spadaro was at .375.
• Emily Sippel led the team with 10 digs, in addition to five kills.
• The Sharks had a pair of players with double-digit assist totals: Caylee Cox (19) and Madison Cook (16), who also had two of the team's three aces and was right behind Sippel with nine digs.
• Landrum had a hand in five of the Sharks' eight blocks.

 
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• The Sharks snapped a five-game road losing streak with the victory. Their last win on the road was a five-set thriller on Oct. 27, 2018 at Rollins.
• Coincidentally, the last time the Sharks swept an opponent on the road was also at Rollins, on Nov. 10, 2017.
• The Sharks also won at Eckerd for the first time in nearly 10 years, also in five sets on Oct. 23, 2009. They now improve to 3-12 in SSC matches in St. Petersburg and 7-22 in conference play against the Tritons overall.

 
UP NEXT
 
The Sharks will head to Florida Southern on Saturday, Oct. 12, with first serve slated for 4:00 p.m.
 
SHARKS ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
 
Follow along with live updates on Twitter by following @NSU_VBALL.