FT. LAUDERDALE, FLA. – The East Central University volleyball went 0-2 in the first two matches of the 2015 season at the Nova Southeastern Shark Invitational.  The Tigers (0-2) first fell 1-3 to Embry Riddle (20-25, 27-25, 15-25, 13-25) and then 0-3 (28-30, 20-25, 25-27) to host Nova Southeastern.

ECU was led by senior Hayley Gerken, with 23 kills, 14 digs and three block assists.  Sophomore Madyson Gill added 18 kills, 18 digs and three block assists.  Defensively sophomore Lily Porsa led the way with 32 digs.

The Tigers will look to get started in the right direction, Saturday, Sept. 5 when they face Westminster College at 1 p.m. and Eckerd College at 3:30 p.m. in the final day of the tournament.

Embry Riddle 3, East Central 1
The Tigers fell 1-3 in the opening march of the season, taking the second set in extra points (27-25).

Gill led the charge for ECU with 13 kills, 15 digs and a .333 attack percentage.  Gerken added 11 kills and seven digs, while senior Sarah Simpson garnered 10 kills.

The Eagles (1-0) opened the set by taking a 1-4 lead and never let go of the advantage.  ERAU led by as many as seven in the opening set before pushing through for the 20-25 win.

The second set was much closer, with three ties and three lead changes.  The Eagles again pulled out to an early (1-4) advantage, but the Tigers fought back and tied the set at seven and then took a 9-7 lead with an 8-2 run. ECU pushed the lead out to 20-12, but then saw ERAU fight back late in the set to force a tie at 24 and 25.  However, the Tigers buckled down and earned the final three points to take a 27-25 win.

The third set was a back-and-forth battle in the first 20 serves, resulting in a 10-all tie.  However, that is when the Eagles took control and used a 9-1 run to take the lead for good on the way to a 15-25 win.

The final set was all ERAU, with a quit 2-7 advantage leading the way to a 13-25 win.

Nova Southeastern 3, East Central 0
In the second match of the day the Tigers started out strong forcing the opening and third set into extra points before falling in three to the Sharks (1-0). 

Gerken led the team with 12 kills, seven digs and a .409 (12k-3e-22ta) hitting percentage.  Porsa tallied 17 digs, while sophomore Taylor Turner garnered 24 assists.

The opening set was a true battle with six tie scores and just one lead change.  The final tie came at 28-all when NSU started a 3-0 run that would give them the first set win (28-30).

The second set continued the fight for most of the set, with eight ties and three lead changes.  The Sharks forced the final tie at 12-all and then went on an 8-0 run to take control of the set for good and went on to win 20-25.

The final set was again forced into extra sets.  The Tigers had led for most of the late part of the match, extending their lead to as many as seven before NSU rallied back to tie the set at 24 and 25 before earning the final two points with service aces for the 25-27 win.