NSU Sharks News

NSU Comes Back From 0-2 Deficit To Win

CANYON, Tex. (Aug. 29, 2009) - The #19 Nova Southeastern University Sharks volleyball team rallied for a 3-2 victory over UT-Permian Basin in play on Saturday morning in the BritKare Lady Buff Classic. The win improves the Sharks record to 2-1 on the season while UT Permian Basin falls to 0-4.

The Sharks came out slowly in the first set, trailing UT-Permian Basin 8-0. NSU clawed to within three points later in the set but would eventually fall 25-22. As a team the Sharks were out-hit .194 to .140 and out-blocked four to two. Freshman middle blocker Carly Perschnick (Dwight, Ill.) led the Sharks with six kills and a .455 attack percentage. Freshman setter Jordan Pappas (Naperville, Ill.) had 16 assists.

Nova Southeastern continued to struggle in the second set, falling 25-20. UT-Permian Basin improved their hitting percentage to .229 while the Sharks fell to .051. Senior outside hitter Jenerra McGruder (Euless, Tex.) had four kills for NSU.

NSU came back to take the third set 25-14. The Sharks out-hit the opposition .242 to -.130. Sophomore outside hitter Anabely Escarpita (Boca Raton, Fla.) provided a spark, tallying four kills while Pappas recorded her first collegiate kill and freshman Paige Boivin (Plainfield, Ill.) posted her first collegiate ace. Junior outside hitter Lucia Cizmarova (Bratislava, Slovak Republic) contributed with four kills.

The Sharks came from behind to win 26-24 in the fourth set. Cizmarova capped the rally with a thundering kill down the line to put the set away. For the set, Cizmarova had five kills to lead the Sharks. Ruiz also had five kills for NSU, which hit .289.

NSU jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the fifth set on a bad UT-Permian Basin set and an ace from libero Alison Kalish (Sr., Miami, Fla.). Perschnick extended the lead to 3-0 after a UTP timeout with a kill that split the defense. NSU led 8-3 at the mid-set switch. UT-Permian Basin closed to within two points at 9-7 when NSU head coach Steve Wilcosky called timeout. After the set was tied 9-9 McGruder came through with a clutch kill to re-gain the lead. Cizmarova served an ace on match point to secure the victory for the Sharks.

"To be able to comeback from down 0-2 says a lot about our team already," said sophomore middle blocker Molly Sigerich (Downers Grove, Ill.). "I can already tell it's going to be a great season."

For the match, NSU out-hit the Falcons .194 to .148. The Sharks had 17 more kills, 18 more assists, and six more aces than the opposition. NSU was led by Ruiz, Perschnick and Cizmarova with 15 kills apiece. McGruder added nine while Pappas distributed 59 assists to go along with three kills, an ace, a block and four digs.

The Sharks continue play in the BritKare Lady Buff Classic with a match against #4 Grand Valley State University at 2 p.m.

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