FORT LUADERDALE, Fla. – Despite a
match-high 14 kills from senior outside hitter Stephanie
Nichols, the Rollins Tars volleyball team was unable to
overcome a .305 attacking percentage from Nova Southeastern,
falling, 3-0 (26-24, 25-20, 25-20) in Saturday afternoon's Sunshine
State Conference match at the University Center.
Leading the Tars (16-9, 2-6 SSC) was Nichols' 14 kills, but she
also had an attacking percentage of .278 with two assists and seven
digs to put forth the best all-around-effort. Trailing Nichols in
kills was junior Nikki
Hartman with 10 blasts of her own.
On the other offensive end, NSU (15-5, 4-2) hit 52 kills with
middle Molly Sigerich registering the team-high 11, with Melinda
Gorman following with 10.
Defensively for Rollins, libero Phoebe
Corder supported her conference-leading digs per set when she
collected 24 digs in three frames for the Tars. With 63 digs by
the team and four blocks, Rollins continued its impressive
defensive season despite the loss.
In the first set, the Tars were held to a .054 attacking
percentage, but with freshman middle Lora
Lieb hitting a .500 and four kills from Hartman, Rollins stayed
in the match. Trailing 24-22, the Tars denied the Sharks any easy
victory and tied the frame at 24. It was back-to-back kills that
eventually secured the win for Nova.
In the second and third frame, Rollins gradually hit better
recording a .268 and a .306 respectively. However, the Shark's
offense proved to be too much in the remaining sets and claimed the
victory.
Rollins will now take a hiatus from conference action as it
travels to Searcy, Ark., for three non-conference matches beginning
with Henderson State, Friday, Oct. 17 at 4 p.m.
