MIAMI SHORES, Fla. -- Barry University's volleyball team won its third straight match, sinking Nova Southeastern, 25-20, 18-25, 25-15, 25-21, Tuesday night. The three match win streak equals a season best.
Barry (11-7, 6-3 Sunshine State Conference) will play at Eckerd and Saint Leo Friday and Saturday before returning home to host Lynn next Tuesday. The Buccaneers took a two-match lead over Nova Southeastern (14-9, 5-5) in the league standings.
Kaitlin Drake had 16 kills and no errors, hitting .516, marking the second time this season the Bucs newcomer has attacked over .500.
Ivana Didanovic finished with 12 kills and six blocks, hitting .310. The Buccaneers hit .234 in the match.
Didanovic banged down a big kill in the third set that gave the Bucs a 20-12 lead with the match squared at 1-1. Nova took advantage of a Barry service error to close within seven, but a hitting error by the Sharks and one of
Katie Dooley's eight kills gave the Buccaneers the set and a 2-1 lead. Barry trailed 15-10 in the fourth set after Caitlin Donahue's kill, but the Bucs went on a 6-1 run, capped by Dooley's kill on an assist from
Jasmine Serna to tie the score at 16-16. The Sharks crept back ahead 19-17 on a Bucs ballhandling error, but Dooley responded again, banging down a kill to tie it up at 19-19. After the Bucs won the next point, three successive sideouts knotted things up at 21-21. Then Drake found the floor for a kill,
Jenny Trinidad served an ace, Didanovic and Serna combined for a block and Trinidad sealed it with an ace.
Trinidad, Serna and
Brittany Jaco each had two of Barry's six aces. Nova also had six, including three by Katie Pyles, who finished with 31 assists and 10 digs.
Eva Raat had 12 kills and two blocks for the Bucs, who hit .583 in the third set. Jaco had 28 digs to move over 400 for the season. She ranks eighth in school single-season history with 408. Serna had 28 assists, and Trinidad 19.
Barry had 13 or more kills in three of the four sets. Nova was held under 10 in all but one set. The Buccaneers outblocked their third straight opponent, winning the battle at the net, 6-5.
Barry's record through 18 matches is the best under fifth-year coach Steve Hendrick's tenure.
