FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Nova Southeastern University Sharks Volleyball got revenge for its SSC opener and took a victory in straight sets on Tuesday night over Florida Tech.
The Sharks faced the Panthers to begin their SSC schedule back in September, nearly reverse sweeping the Panthers before falling in the fifth set. NSU made sure the opposite didn't happen on Tuesday breaking out the brooms.
Records: Nova Southeastern 12-17 (5-13 SSC) | Florida Tech 7-20 (4-14 SSC)
Location: Rick Case Arena | Fort Lauderdale Fla.
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First Set (26-24, NSU) – The Panthers came out searching for Shark blood taking a quick 8-2 advantage forcing an early timeout from the Sharks. The momentum seemed to flip from that point with the Sharks using a 6-1 run draw closer to the visitors but didn't pull into a tie until both teams were at 23 off the backs of another impressive run for NSU, this time a 5-1 run. Florida Tech managed to stave off a destined Nova Southeastern team for a point with a kill from Olivia Bush to put the Panthers at set point but the Sharks scored the next three with kills from
Abbie Roth and
Caiden Largent to force match point before Florida Tech committed an attacking error giving the home side the early set lead.
Second Set (25-23, NSU) – Unlike the first set which was largely controlled by the Panthers before the Sharks pulled the rug out from under their feet, the second set was even with 12 ties and four lead changes. The Sharks finally got some breathing room with a 5-1 run using service aces from
Caiden Largent and
Cami Sekanina to take a 23-20 lead. However, Florida Tech would not go down quietly scoring the next three to pull back to a tie and force a NSU timeout. With the set tied at 23, the Sharks came out of the timeout and earned a kill from
Brooke Spurgeon to set up a set point service ace from
Natalya Bergant to put the maroon-clad Panthers on the ropes heading into the third.
Third Set (28-26, NSU) – For both the Sharks and the Panthers, the third set is where they played their best, and it showed on the box score with both sides hitting above .300 with just five attacking errors between the two teams. The Sharks started red hot with a 7-1 run to begin the set before the Panthers stormed back eventually tying the set at 15 apiece. NSU would once again get the upper hand on the visitors forcing match point at 24-21, but once again the Panthers raced back with three unanswered points to force the tie at 24-24. Both teams teeter-tottered over the next few points with the Sharks having three separate serves for match point, but eventually it was back-to-back kills from
Caiden Largent that put the match to bed and gave the home victory to Nova Southeastern.
The Sharks hit just a tick under .300 as a team in the match with
Taylor Norris particularly shining hitting .400 with six kills on ten attacks.
Caiden Largent topped the kill sheet for NSU with 14 while
Natalya Bergant trailed just behind with 12.
Abbie Roth once again led in assists with 37.
Cami Sekanina, in her first match starting at libero, recorded a team-leading 13 digs with two service aces to go along with it.
Freshman
Kotryna Melstrad earned her second appearance of the season playing in all three sets recording her first collegiate point with a service ace in the opening set as well as her first collegiate digs as she ended the match with three.
Nova Southeastern finishes its regular season on homecoming weekend taking on Florida Southern on Friday, November 13 at 7 p.m. at Rick Case Arena. The Sharks' homecoming game and Senior Day will take place on Saturday against No. 2 Tampa.
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