ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern Sharks Volleyball team returned to action on Friday, competing in a pair of matches against Belmont Abbey and Flager at the Flagler Invite. The Sharks began the tournament with a 3-0 victory over Belmont Abbey and finished the day with a thrilling five-set win over Flagler.
Head Coach Kacie Ehinger recorded the 100th victory of her career in the Nova Southeastern win against Belmont Abbey.
Records: Nova Southeastern 6-0 | Belmont Abbey 1-4 | Flagler 3-3
Scores: Nova Southeastern 3, Belmont Abbey 0 | Nova Southeastern 3, Flagler 2
Location: Flagler Gymnasium | St. Augustine, Fla.
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- Taylor Stockman sparked a 5-1 rally early in the opening set, as NSU took a 6-3 lead over Belmont Abbey.
- NSU tacked on another run, scoring five unanswered points to take a 16-8 advantage. Madelyn Hooper recorded two consecutive blocks and Gabrielle Spankus capped the rally with a service ace.
- Elizabeth Price, Olivia Aniol, Stockman, and Kate Mihacevich each recorded a kill, sealing the 25-16 first set win for the Sharks.
- NSU continued its momentum to open the second set, beginning with a 3-0 rally.
- Leading 4-3, Price sparked a 10-1 run for NSU and broke the set open by putting the score at 14-4.
- During the extended rally, Stockman tallied back-to-back service aces, while Mihacevich, Aniol, and Spankus all contributed points.
- Nova Southeastern continued its dominant showing in the second set, scoring the final six points and taking the frame 25-7 over Belmont Abbey.
- The Sharks rolled throughout the third and final set of the match, defeating Belmont Abbey 25-15; earning the team’s third consecutive match sweep and fourth on the season.
Taylor Stockman: 10 kills, two service aces, five digs
Gabrielle Spankus: 17 assists, 10 digs
Olivia Aniol: six kills, seven total blocks
Head Coach Kacie Ehinger – “100 wins is truly a testament to all the athletes I’ve coached! It means so much to reach this milestone with this group, they go about things the right way and work hard every day. I just love being around them and coming to the gym each day.”
When asked about starting the season 5-0, how important is it to continue the momentum early in the year, Taylor Stockman said “I believe it shows how eager we are to prove ourselves this season. It’s important to win these games early on because our conference is so strong that we will be prepared. Our confidence will keep on building as well!”
In the Sharks’ second match of the day, NSU took on the host Flagler Saints.
- Trailing 21-14 in the opening frame, NSU capitalized on several errors by Flagler and sparked a 10-2 run and capped off by three consecutive kills by Taylor Stockman to tie the set at 23-23.
- The run by the Sharks fell just short as Flagler claimed the first set 25-23.
- Nova Southeastern responded by taking a 7-3 advantage in the second set.
- Olivia Aniol and Elizabeth Price combined to record three straight points for NSU, putting the score at 19-11.
- Emerson Deferme started a set-winning, 5-0 run for the Sharks, as NSU tied the match at 1-1 with a 25-17 set win.
- Flagler claimed the third set 25-15 over the Sharks.
- Nova Southeastern and Flagler battled and traded points throughout the fourth set.
- NSU took its largest lead of the set, 22-19, taking advantage of an error by Flagler.
- The Saints rallied to tie it at 22-22, but Kate Mihacevich recorded two of the final three points for NSU, before Gabrielle Spankus finished off the 25-23 fourth set win, tying the match at two sets apiece.
- Nova Southeastern continued to control the momentum in the fifth set, beginning the frame on a 7-2 run capped off by a block from Aniol and Price, as well as a kill from Price.
- Flagler cut the NSU lead to 12-10, but Price finished off the thrilling, five-set win for the Sharks with two of the last three points, as Nova Southeastern completed the comeback with a 15-11 fifth set win.
Elizabeth Price: 16 kills, 11 digs
Taylor Stockman: 16 kills, two service aces, 12 digs
Gabrielle Spankus: 49 assists, 13 digs
Brooke Spurgeon: 16 digs
Head Coach Kacie Ehinger – “I’m so proud of the girls tonight. We didn’t have our best stuff at points, but we found a way to grind it out. It took a total team effort and our defense made some really big plays to keep us in it. Brooke Spurgeon made some incredible run down saves to keep rallies alive, helping us push through.”
The Sharks conclude play at the Flagler Invite on Saturday, September 14th, taking on 18th ranked Central Oklahoma at 1 p.m. To stay up-to-date on Sharks Volleyball, be sure to follow on Instagram at NSU_VBall and X at NSU_VB.
