FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern Sharks Volleyball team made their long-awaited home debut on Saturday, beating the Florida Tech Panthers in a Sunshine State Conference match at the Rick Case Arena. NSU defeated Florida Tech (30-28, 27-25, 25-17) and the Sharks have won 15 consecutive sets and swept each of their last four matches.
Records: Nova Southeastern 11-1, 2-0 SSC | Florida Tech 7-5, 1-2 SSC
Score: Nova Southeastern 3 | Florida Tech 0
Location: Rick Case Arena | Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
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- Olivia Aniol kicked off a five-point rally for the Sharks with a block, before Elizabeth Price recorded three consecutive kills and gave NSU a 10-4 lead in the first set over the Panthers.
- Florida Tech cut the Sharks advantage to 15-14, but another lengthy run extended the NSU lead to 21-14.
- During the rally, Brittany Landrum started the run with a kill, before Aniol teamed with both Price and Taylor Stockman for a pair of blocks. Aniol added a kill and another block alongside Stockman and Stockman tacked on a kill cap off the run.
- The Panthers responded to the Sharks run with one of their own, rallying to take a 25-24 lead late in the set.
- Nova Southeastern took advantage of a pair of errors by Florida Tech, reclaiming the lead at 26-25.
- The Panthers took the lead once again at 28-27, but Price took over and sealed the 30-28 set win for the Sharks with a pair of kills.
- NSU and Florida Tech continued to battle back-and-forth into the second set, but NSU took the lead following a pair of blocks from Landrum alongside Gabrielle Spankus and Kate Mihacevich.
- Trailing 15-12, a five-point rally by NSU reclaimed the lead for the Sharks at 17-15.
- Each teams traded points for the remainder of the set, and once again NSU and Florida Tech needed extra points to determine a second set winner.
- Mihacevich sealed the 27-25 set win for NSU, as the Sharks took a 2-0 lead in the match.
- Nova Southeastern was able to get out to a 7-3 lead in the third frame, carrying over the momentum needed to win the second set.
- A 4-1 rally by NSU, which featured three points from Stockman, extended the advantage to 17-10 in favor of the Sharks.
- Price and Landrum tallied the final points for Nova Southeastern, as the Sharks won their 15th consecutive set and swept the fourth straight opponent, beating Florida Tech 25-17 in the final frame.
Elizabeth Price: 12 kills, 0.423 hitting percentage, nine digs
Taylor Stockman: 10 kills, 0.409 hitting percentage, seven blocks, seven digs
Olivia Aniol: 10 kills, 0.474 hitting percentage, seven blocks
Gabrielle Spankus: 40 assists
Marley Navaretta: 16 digs, 5.33 digs/set
Head Coach Kacie Ehinger – “We had a great home opener against a solid Florida Tech team. What a great defensive weekend from both our front and back courts. Olivia Aniol continues to be a problem for opposing hitters, while Brittany Landrum and Taylor Stockman both stepped up in big moments. All three allowed Marley to play some great defense around the block, as she averaged 5.33 digs/set. Offensively, Elizabeth Price, Taylor and Liv continue to score at a high rate with a variety of shots and are getting great looks thanks to the setting of Gabrielle Spankus. It was great to be back in front of a home and pro-Sharks crowd. We look forward to being back at home next weekend!”
The Sharks take on the Embry-Riddle Eagles in Sunshine State Conference action on Tuesday, October 1st, at the ICI Center. First serve is set for 7 p.m. To stay up-to-date on NSU Volleyball, be sure to follow on Instagram at NSU_VBall and X at NSU_VB.
