WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.– The Palm Beach Atlantic volleyball team returned home to Rubin Arena to face Nova Southeastern on Tuesday night.
It was the visiting Sharks who came out on top in a match that had Sunshine State Conference standings implications. With its 3-1 win, Nova Southeastern moved into sole possession of seventh place in the conference. PBA was outhit .322-.128 by NSU in the match, including a -.053 hitting percentage in the fourth set by the Sailfish.
PBA had its best performance of the night in the first set. The Sailfish hit .296 in the set which they came from behind to win 25-23. With NSU leading 16-13, the 'Fish went on a 6-1 run that included kills from
Ally Smith and
Sam Wolf to take a 19-17 lead. The Sharks regained a one-point advantage after a 5-2 run of their own. PBA scored four of the last five points of the set thanks to kills from
Caroline Swan,
Jazz Schmidt and Wolf to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
The rest of the match was all downhill for the Sailfish. The second set stayed competitive until the midway point when the Sharks ripped off an 8-1 run to take a commanding 22-14 lead. The Sailfish tried to fight back with three consecutive points, but NSU won the set 25-17. PBA's struggles on offense began to come to fruition in this set, hitting just .148.
An early run at the beginning of the third set was all NSU needed to run away with the set. A 5-1 run at the start of the set gave the Sharks a 9-5 lead, and NSU held its advantage for the remainder of the set. The Sailfish attempted to comeback by cutting the deficit down to two on two separate occasions, but they were unable to overcome Nova Southeastern.
After a tightly contested start to the fourth set, the Sharks dominated the second half. With the set tied at 10, the visitors went on a 14-1 run to take control of the set. NSU won the set 25-13 to earn its first victory over the Sailfish since Sept. 24., 2009. This snapped PBA's 16-match win streak in the series.
Schmidt led the 'Fish with 13 kills, hitting .462 in the match. Wolf was not far behind adding 12 kills of her own with a .296 hitting percentage.
Emma Pieper had a team-high 18 assists while
Lilly Turner finished with 13 digs.
The Sailfish hit the road again on Friday to face Tampa, who is receiving votes in the AVCA Top-25. The match starts at 7 p.m.
