HOOVER, Ala. - The Union University volleyball team posted a 3-1 (25-21, 22-25, 25-17, 26-24) over Nova Southeastern (Fla.) University Friday in the GSC/SSC Crossover Classic. Union improved 12-9 on the season, while Nova Southeastern dropped to 4-8 overall. The newly built Findley Center in Hoover is hosting the 24 team event over two days. 

The win for Union set a season high (12 wins) for head coach Darrin McClure in his three years at Union. The 12 wins are also the most in a season since joining NCAA DII, the most for Union since Kelly Elliott won 15 games for Union in 2011, the final year of Union's NAIA membership. The win was also the first for the volleyball program in the four-year history of the GSC/SSC Crossover Classic. 

McClure said, "We have worked at staying focused one point at a time. Today we won because we did that more frequently. By no means were we perfect. There were times we did not handle adversity very well but we showed signs of improvement. I'll take that and a win over a good SSC opponent any day. We had an excellent effort today by our setter (Bre). She distributed the ball very well."

After a slow start to the first set, Union settled in an to overcome deficits of 5-1 and 10-6. Union went from down four to up by four points, 20-16 thanks to a 14-6  run. Union held on for the 25-21 win. 

In the second set, the teams played back and forth for a while when Nova extended to a 18-11 lead. Union rallied to cut the deficit to just two points, 24-2, but a kill from the Sharks evened the match at 1-1. 

Union stormed out of the gates in set three to lead 11-3. Freshman AC Winchester pushed Union out to their largest lead of the set thanks to six straight service points. Abbie Rahn had three kills for Union during that stretch. Union held the lead for the remainder of the set cruising to the 25-17 win. 

In the final set, Union pushed out to a 13-8 lead thanks to three straight kills, two from Clare Taylor and one from Ceciley Blanchard. With Union leading 17-12, the Sharks rallied and tied the set at 20-20 and then went ahead 23-21. Union got three kills in a row, two from Rahn and one from Bre Carlton to lead 24-23. After Nova tied the set at 24-24, Union got the final two points on a Nova service error and block from Blanchard and Carlton to win the match. 

Union was led by Rahn with 16 kills and Katie O'Malley with 14 kills. Carlton led with 43 assits, Winchester led with two aces, Taylor Chiaro led with 20 digs while O'Malley added 19 digs. Blanchard and Krista Karns led with four blocks each. 

Nova Southeastern was led by Tyler-Palmer with 20 kills, Blasko with 25 assists, Burns with 19 digs, and Palmer with five blocks. 

Up next for Union will be a pair of Saturday matches in the crossover classic. Union faces Flagler (Fla.) at 10 a.m. and Florida Tech at 4:45 p.m.

-UNION-