Women's Volleyball | 12/5/2024 3:40:00 PM

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The postseason is among us as the journey starts on Friday night for the Barry Women's Volleyball team. The Bucs earned an At-Large bid to the NCAA South Regional that will be hosted by Lynn University from December 6^th to the 8^th at the de Hoernle Center. They will be the no. 2 seed and were drawn to play seventh seeded Nova Southeastern University. There are four more Sunshine State Conference schools joining the tournament in addition to the Bucs and Sharks.

TOURNAMENT INFO
Full tournament page can be found here.
Watch Live here
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INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Records: Barry (23-4, 16-4 SSC); Nova Southeastern (20-10, 11-9 SSC)
All-Time Series: Barry leads 36-14
Season Series: Barry swept 2-0

Barry swept the season series against the Sharks in two five-set thrillers this season. The Bucs finished as co-runner up in the Sunshine State Conference (SSC) with a 16-4 league record. In both matches, the biggest difference came off the defense for the as the Bucs had a nine-block and 23-dig surplus. Leading the way for the Buccaneers is SSC and AVCA Regional Player of the Year, Diana Akopova. The senior leads the league in kills per set (5.13) and points per set (5.89), she is also leads all outside hitters in hitting percentage at .330. Veronika Eremeeva is also another weapon on the attack front, as she double-dips in awards as the SSC and AVCA Regional Freshman of the Year. The freshman averages 3.06 kills per set and is second in service aces having collected nine in her last three matches.

There were two more Bucs who earned recognition and it is Varvara Osychenko who earned her second straight All-SSC Second Team honor and Jeyhlen Thomas who earned her first career honor on the All-SSC Third Team. Barry comes into the tournament on an 11-match win streak and have won 33 of their last 37 sets played.

Nova Southeastern comes in as the seventh seed in the tournament also earning an at-large bid. The Sharks finished in the Sunshine State standings with an 11-9 record. They come in on a two-match losing streak falling to fellow SSC opponents, Tampa and Florida Southern. NSU had three members named to an All-SSC team being led by Olivia Aniol who was recognized on the first team. Taylor Stockman and Kate Mihacevich were named to the second and third team, respectively.

This is the Buccaneers 18^th appearance all-time in the NCAA Tournament. It is also their second appearance in the last three years. The winner of this match will advance and play the winner of no. 3 Tampa and no. 6 West Florida on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. The championship game for the South Region will be on Sunday, December 8 at 5:00 p.m.

About Barry University Athletics

Barry University has sponsored NCAA Division II athletics for 39 years, winning 28 national championships in eight sports, crowning 429 All-Americans in 13 sports and over 640 scholar All-Americans. Barry is a proud member of the Sunshine State Conference "The Conference of National Champions" with 104 league titles since joining in 1989. The Buccaneers have NCAA men's teams in soccer, cross country, basketball, swimming, baseball, golf, and tennis and women's teams in soccer, cross country, volleyball, basketball, swimming, beach volleyball, golf, rowing, softball and tennis.