FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The 2019-20 sports season included a multitude of firsts for the Nova Southeastern Sharks, including the early end to the spring season due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. While the end of the year could be filled with a long list of “what-ifs”, one thing is certain: the Sharks did not disappoint during the time they saw competition. Below is a year in review for your NSU Sharks.
2019 WOMEN’S SOCCER
The 2019 Nova Southeastern women’s soccer team will forever be remembered following its historic postseason run this past fall. For the fifth time in as many years under former head coach John Constable, the Sharks earned a berth into the NCAA Tournament, only this time they left a much bigger imprint. After stumbling in the Sunshine State Conference Tournament semifinal round, NSU showed great resolve by rebounding in the NCAA Tournament despite being seeded fifth out of six south region programs. NSU upset Montevallo in the opening round, garnering the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament victory in the process, before beating host Mississippi College and SSC Tournament champion Embry-Riddle to hoist the program’s first South Region Championship trophy. The team’s 17 wins also marked a new single-season record.
2019 MEN’S SOCCER
Head coach Matt Watts has the NSU men’s soccer program on the cusp of something special following another strong showing in 2019. The Sharks rattled off a program-record five consecutive victories in the midst of Sunshine State Conference play last fall, en route to a repeat trip to the SSC Tournament semifinals – also a program first. The success in the SSC propelled NSU to its third straight winning season. With each of their Top-5 goal scorers back in 2020, the Sharks appear more than capable to finally punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
2019 VOLLEYBALL
First year head coach Brian Rosen and the NSU volleyball squad made a statement in 2019, recording their first 20-win season since 2008, including 12 Sunshine State Conference wins – the most in program history. NSU saw multiple postseason honors for Alex Boone and Ally Ford, who became the Sharks’ first All-Americans since 2017, while also earning All-South Region and All-SSC accolades. Academically, the volleyball team led the athletic department on the women’s side with the 3.59 fall semester team GPA, before posting a program-high 3.64 winter semester team GPA. Their 3.61 annual GPA was also a program-high. The Sharks return 11 players including six starters, which makes this a team to keep an eye out for in the near future.
2019 MEN & WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
In the fall, the Sharks cross country squads were paced by two steady leaders, namely senior Michelle Bauer and freshman Trey May. Much like her rookie campaign, Bauer led the Sharks in each of the seven outings, producing three top-15 finishes and coming in 28th at the Sunshine State Championships and 45th at the NCAA South Regional. The Apopka, Fla. rookie, May showed his leadership early, opening his career with the first of three top-15s on the season and led the Sharks in six races, finishing 25th at the SSC Championships. The Sharks proved strong in the classroom as well, with 15 student-athletes named to the SSC Commissioner’s Honor roll. NSU developed some quality depth heading into 2020, with 16 Sharks returning to next year’s squads.
2019-20 MEN & WOMEN’S SWIMMING
Despite the NCAA DII National Championship meet getting halted just a day and a half in, the Nova Southeastern swim teams still made strides during the 2019-20 season, which included a fifth Sunshine State Conference crown for the women’s team, seven new program records, seven individual SSC Champions, 12 All-SSC awards and head coach Ben Hewitt‘s honor of SSC Women’s Coach of the Year title. At the national championship meet, the women’s 200 medley relay team made up by Cassandra Wright, Caily Friel, Sasha Maslova and Jenna Johns earned the bronze with their time of 1:40.13, posting a new Sunshine State Conference and institution record. The quartet also posted a new SSC and NSU record in the 400 medley relay, as their leadoff swimmer, Wright, also broke her previous record in the 100 backstroke set at the 2020 SSC Championships with her new time of 52.94. She was just .49 seconds away from a new NCAA Division II record. Out of the pool, the women’s team also recorded their program’s highest ever winter semester GPA, 3.68, while also finishing the year with a program-high annual GPA of 3.61.
2019-20 WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Consistently one of the toughest teams in the Sunshine State Conference, the women’s basketball team put up some impressive numbers this past season. Jordan Tully picked up multiple postseason accolades including being named to the All-SSC First Team, the first time since 2016 for a Shark to find their name on the top team. Also earning Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) All-Region Second Team honors, Tully led the squad and the SSC with her 18.1 points per game, in addition to a 4.6 rebounds per game average. As a team, the Sharks led the league in blocks with 100 and in blocks per game (3.57), and were ranked third with their 43.5 percent shooting from the field. The Sharks also finished the year with toughness in the classroom, producing a 3.59 winter semester GPA.
2019-20 MEN’S BASKETBALL
How were the Sharks going to follow up their South Region Championship from the year prior? Well, head coach Jim Crutchfield and company added 23 more wins in 2019-20, and in doing so, climbed all the way to the top of the college basketball rankings in the month of December for the first time in program history. By year’s end, NSU returned to the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season, and with a youthful core intact, has the pieces to be right back in the postseason come 2021. The Sharks also put in the work in the classroom setting program GPA records in the winter semester (3.30) and on the year (3.24).
2019-20 TENNIS
Working to the midpoint of another outstanding year under fourth-year head coach Doug Neagle, the women’s tennis team earned an official final ranking of third nationally from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association for the highest final ranking in the program’s history. With an 8-1 record together this spring, sophomore Natalie Espinal and senior Sarah Wardenburg teamed to earn the nation’s No. 1 doubles ranking, which stood through the conclusion of the season. The pair were 7-2 and 8-2, respectively – with Espinal also ranking No. 4 in national singles. First-year junior Karolina Snita went a team-high 11-0 in singles to join Espinal and Wardenburg as ITA All-Americans – the first time in program history the Sharks have featured three such honorees. Ending the short campaign with a 13-1 record, the Sharks notched a .929 winning percentage, downed five nationally-ranked opponents and won nine matches by sweep. In the classroom, the Sharks turned in a 3.48 team GPA during the winter semester.
2019-20 WOMEN’S GOLF
Led by All-Americans Hanna Ahlander, Valentina Albertazzi and Sofia Garcia Austt, the Nova Southeastern women’s golf team finished the 2019-20 year with a No. 1 next to its name. Despite a gut-wrenching halt to a season filled with endless potential, the Sharks proved to be the very best in Division II by earning victories in four of their seven tournament appearances. The aforementioned trio each ranked among the nation’s Top-20 individually, while Albertazzi even went on to become the fifth NSU player in program history to be named the WGCA Freshman of the Year. The Sharks have now won a combined 17 tournaments over the past three seasons. Head coach Heather Wall‘s squad delivered a stellar 3.63 team GPA to conclude the winter semester.
2019-20 MEN’S GOLF
With a roster full of new faces, including five true freshmen, the Nova Southeastern men’s golf team proved a bright future may be in store following a 2019-20 campaign in which it gradually improved as the year wore on. Freshman Mike Hay finished the season as the team’s highest ranked player, while Tomas Millet’s victory at the Saint Leo Invitational – the first of his career – marked the sixth straight year a Sharks player had won an individual title. Perhaps even more impressive, off the course, NSU compiled a team GPA of 3.30 – the program’s highest to date.
2019-20 ROWING
In this shortened season, the women’s rowing squad was halted just prior to their first true competition of the season – scheduled for the SSC Double Dual in Miami Beach on March 14 after promising spring scrimmages with Florida Tech and Barry. In the fall, NSU saw some early success with a fourth-place V8 finish at the Head of the Indian Creek, as well as a fourth-place mark against top DII and DI competition at Stetson’s Hatter Invitational. The 25 Sharks were lined up for a successful season on the water but successfully turned their focus to academics, producing a 3.41 team GPA and three rowers with a perfect 4.0. Their future opportunities look bright, as seven crew members from the V8 return for next season.
2020 MEN & WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD
The Sharks’ competitions were quite limited on the track, only running three meets before the season was cut short. In that time, junior Destinee Fisher rose to the top of the Peach Belt Conference standings in the women’s 100m hurdles with a 14.93 at the Bobcat-Shark Relays in Miramar, just ahead of freshman teammate Jasmine Charles, who occupies the No. 2 spot at 15.09. At the same meet, the squad of Christina Adams, Megan Fleming, Sophia Leto and Aliza Richard adjusted the women’s 4x800m relay record at 10:11.74, downing the prior mark that had stood since 2011. In addition to 14 Sharks named to the Peach Belt Teams of Academic Distinction, both senior Michelle Bauer and sophomore Quynlan Duffy earned the PBC’s Elite 15 Award – both registering a cumulative 4.00 GPA. Duffy also ranked second in the PBC with a monster 4.10m personal best in the pole vault. In addition, sophomore Charissa Bacon was named the NSU Wonder Women Award winner by the Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship in partnership with the NSU Career Development office. The women’s squad achieved a 3.33 in the winter semester, while the men reached 3.10.
2020 SOFTBALL
Off to their best start in years, the NSU softball team was just about halfway through their season before the early end. With a record of 19-10, the Sharks had just seen an 11-game win streak come to an end in their final game of 2020. As a team, the Sharks led the Sunshine State Conference with their 76 stolen bases, ranking them third in NCAA DII softball. Senior centerfielder Sydney Lageyre was having the best year of her career, leading the squad with her batting average (.419), slugging percentage (.500) and 21 stolen bases. During the first week March, she was named both the Sunshine State Conference Player of the Week and 2020 Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division II Player of the Week for her outstanding play during games played Mar. 2-8. Off the field, the Sharks earned a program-high winter semester GPA of 3.37, while also finishing 2019-20 with a program-high cumulative GPA of 3.20.
2020 BASEBALL
Facing a schedule that provided 14 of the first 22 contests against ranked opposition in the first year under coach Laz Gutierrez, the No. 23 Sharks baseball bounced back from a challenging start and were just starting to hit a stride when the pandemic brought the season to an end. The Sharks had just won both Sunshine State Conference series, on the road at top-15 ranked opponents and had clinched victory in five of the final seven games. The Sharks were tied for the top league win percentage in the SSC standings at the time of the stoppage. NSU’s aggressive baserunning played a major role in the turn and the Sharks led the SSC and ranked fourth nationally with 65 stolen bases (2.95/game). They also were proving heady on the defensive end, ranking 14th in the NCAA with 19 double plays (0.86/game). Some standouts were starting to deliver, as sophomore Duncan Pastore was batting .330 with an NCAA sixth-best 11 doubles, while senior Brandon Chinea was pacing the team with a .369 average. A pair of freshmen were beginning to make their mark, as second baseman Tyler Epstein stepped in due to injury and was hitting .367 with 16 runs, five doubles and nine steals – on the mound Cooper Omans notched a 3-0 record and 1.45 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 18.2 innings, holding both Barry and Embry-Riddle without a run in two key league victories.
2020 ACADEMICS
2019-20 was a banner year for the Sharks in the classroom, across the entire department. After producing a record fall departmental GPA at 3.27, NSU student-athletes redirected their winter semester focus in the face of adversity to deliver a record 3.40 semester GPA. For their efforts, the Sharks raised the bar academically with a new program record of a whopping 3.33 annual mark. That’s now 18 consecutive years with the department over 3.0 and the fourth year in a row NSU has reached a 3.20 or better as program.
As always, to stay up-to-date with the Sharks this offseason, follow them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @NSUSharks.
