FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern volleyball team improved its record to 5-1 on Friday, splitting a pair of matches in the Shark Invitational II hosted in the Rick Case Arena. The Sharks fell in four sets to South Region member Valdosta State before bouncing back in the nightcap against Southern New Hampshire with a 3-1 win.
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP (GAME ONE):
FINAL: L, 1-3 (16-25, 17-25, 25-23, 22-25)
RECORDS: Nova Southeastern Sharks (4-1), Valdosta State Blazers (2-3)
LOCATION: Rick Case Arena | Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
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HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
SET 1 | The beginning of the match was back-and-forth including eight ties, until at 11-11 when the Blazers took advantage of 4-0 run to steal a 15-11 edge. A kill by Emily Sippel sparked three unanswered points tallied by NSU, bringing the Sharks within one at 15-14, but a 7-1 run by VSU put the visitors just three points away from a win at 22-15. After a service error, the Blazers continued to put the heat on NSU, tallying the final three points in a row for the 25-16 win.
 
SET 2 | The Blazers quickly jumped out to a 6-2 lead before the Sharks started to fight back, using a 4-0 run including two kills by Sippel to knot the game, 8-8. A kill by Alex Boone gave Nova Southeastern their lone lead of the match at 10-9, before Valdosta State responded with a 6-1 run to regain the lead at 15-11. A setting error by the Blazers and a block by Ally Ford and Brittany Landrum brought NSU within two at 15-13, before VSU closed out the match on a 10-4 run to take a 2-0 overall lead.
 
SET 3 | Down 13-12 in the third set, the Sharks exploded for a 6-0 run, ignited by a kill by Amanda Hall, to take an 18-13 lead. With the home team ahead 19-14, the Blazers clawed their way back into the mix with a 6-1 run of their own to tie things up, 20-20. A kill by Landrum and an attack error by VSU put the Sharks up by two, before Valdosta State was able to tie the game once again at 23-23. That was close enough for NSU, however, as a kill by Boone and an ace by Sippel gave the Sharks the 25-23 win and force a fourth set.
 
SET 4 | The Sharks tallied the first four points of the match, including two aces by Sippel, going up 6-1 with a kill by Ford and another ace, this time by Jess Barrett. NSU continued to stay out in front until at 12-8, Valdosta State took advantage of a 4-0 run to tie the game 12-12. After a Shark timeout, a kill by Boone put NSU back on top, before the Blazers put the advantage back on their side with three-straight points. Nova Southeastern responded with a 3-0 run of their own to take back the lead, 16-15, and again at 17-16 with a kill by Landrum. Tied once again at 20-20, a block by Boone and Sippel gave the Sharks their last lead of the match before Valdosta State used a 5-1 run to close out the game, 25-22, and win the match 3-1 overall.  
 
INSIDE THE STATS:
 

• Sippel led the Sharks with her 12 kills, and recording the double-double with a team-high 19 digs.
• Ford had eight kills and six digs while Boone had seven kills to go along with three blocks.
• Caylee Cox recorded 19 assists and Madison Cook tallied 18.
• Barrett picked up 11 digs, while Aleyna Kennel had nine.
• As a team, the Blazers recorded 47 block assists, with 19 of them coming from starting middle blocker Kayla Widera alone.

 
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:
 

• Today's loss puts the overall series record at 5-4 in the Blazer's favor.

 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP (GAME TWO):
FINAL: W, 3-1 (25-27, 25-17, 25-19, 25-15)
RECORDS: Nova Southeastern Sharks (5-1), Southern New Hampshire Penmen (2-2)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
SET 1 | The Sharks jumped out to a 4-1 lead early on before the Penmen fought back to tie the game up 7-7 with an ace. An error by SNHU put the advantage back on NSU's side until at 19-16, the visitors strung together three-straight points to knot the game, 19-19. The momentum stayed on the Penmen's side, as they went up as many as three points at 23-20, before a kill by Sippel and an ace by Landrum made it a one-point game once again. An ace by Cox made it set point in favor of NSU, 25-24, but SNHU was the team to close it, tallying three-straight points for a 27-25 win.
 
SET 2 | NSU was the first to draw blood in set two, taking a 2-0 lead with a kill by Landrum and an error by the Penmen and never looking back. SNHU was able to come within one at 8-7, before the Sharks used a 3-0 run to put the edge back on their side. Replying with 6-2 run, Southern New Hampshire tied the game at 13-13. That was enough for NSU, however, as the home squad took off on an 8-0 run to earn a commanding 21-13 advantage. After the two teams exchanged a string of points, a solo block by Boone closed out set one with the Sharks on top 25-17 to even things up a set apiece.
 
SET 3 | Unlike the first two sets, it was SNHU who took the early lead. The beginning of the set saw nine ties before a 3-0 run at 13-10 by NSU put the momentum on the home team's side. From there, a 6-0 run, capped with an ace by Sippel put the Sharks ahead 19-12 and forced Southern New Hampshire to use both their timeouts during that time. The Penmen fought back, coming within two at 20-18, but a 5-1 run that started and ended with kills by Ford allowed NSU to take a two set to one advantage with a 25-19 win.
 
SET 4 | Nova Southeastern was not messing around in set four. After staying close in the early stages, the Sharks exploded on a 17-1 run for a devastating 21-5 lead. Southern New Hampshire wouldn't give up that easily, however, using a 7-0 run to force NSU to take a timeout to get back on track. A kill by Sippel put NSU in game-winning position at 24-14, and after a Penmen point, another kill by Sippel finished the match with a 25-15 Shark blowout.
 
INSIDE THE STATS:
 

• Ford tallied a game-high 21 kills, picking up six digs along the way.
• Starting middles Landrum and Boone each had 10 kills apiece, adding three and five blocks each, respectively.
• Barrett picked up a game-high 15 digs, adding two service aces and four assists.
• Sippel finished with nine kills and nine digs to go along with two aces of her own.
• Cook tallied a game-high 27 assists and Cox added 25. Cook also had eight digs and Cox dished out a team-high three aces.
• Amanda Hall put down seven kills and also had four blocks.
• As a team, the Sharks recorded 10 aces and 11 blocks.

 
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:
 

• Both Ford's 21 kills and Barrett's 15 digs were season-highs.
• Cook also recorded a career-high with her 27 assists.
• This was the first time in program history the two teams have met.

 
UP NEXT
 
The Sharks will continue play in the Shark Invitational II on Saturday, squaring off against Grand Valley State at 12:00 p.m. and Belmont Abbey at 5:00 p.m.
 
 
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Follow along with live updates on Twitter by following @NSU_VBALL.