FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Sunshine State Conference announced the preseason Volleyball coaches poll on Tuesday morning. The Nova Southeastern Sharks, under the direction of Head Coach Kacie Ehinger, were picked to finish fifth in the league.  

NSU received 65 points in the poll and trailed Lynn, Tampa, Barry, and Embry-Riddle.  

2025 Sunshine State Conference Preseason Coaches’ Poll

The Sharks return AVCA All-American Olivia Aniol, who set the single-season record for block assists (131) during the 2024 season. In addition to Aniol, Madelyn Hooper, Brooke Spurgeon, Taylor Stockman, Marley Navaretta, Avery Piatt, Varshini Panuganti, Ella Kern, Gabrielle Spankus, and Juliana Imbuzeiro all return to the program. The Sharks also welcomed several new additions to the team, as Brantley Chipley, Natalya Bergant, Abbie Roth, Hadley Dantzler, Erika Spankus, Mackenzie Pryor, Caiden Largent, Amalee Doyle, Ayana Solan, and Cami Kelsay all look to make an impact in their first season as Sharks.  

Nova Southeastern finished sixth in the league during the 2024 season, winning 20 matches, while also advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth consecutive year and third season under Ehinger’s guidance.  

The Sharks begin their 2025 season on Friday, September 5th, hosting Malone University at the Rick Case Arena. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. To stay up-to-date on Sharks Volleyball, be sure to follow on Instagram at NSU_VBall and X at NSU_VB.  

2023: Did not see action

2022: Did not see action.

Prior to Tulane: Griffin-Ruwin comes to New Orleans from San Francisco, California. At the beginning of her beach volleyball career she trained with the Sandlegs beach volleyball club before moving on to train with the Valley Girls. Griffin-Ruwin also trained on the sand with former USC coach, Anna Collier and AVP/USA professional, Allie Wheeler.  Griffin-Ruwin was recognized by AVCA volleyball as an elite rising high school volleyball student-athlete. She has trained and competed in P1440, USAV, CBVA’s, AAU and AVP tournaments. Top finishes in CBVA and P1440 tournaments. Getting stronger off the courts, Griffin-Ruwin did OC Fast-Twitch training, F45 training, and Apiros.

Griffin-Ruwin plans on majoring in Design and wants to pursue a career as an Interior Designer in the Real Estate Business.

Salvador, Brazil – August 12 – The USA Junior Women defeated Italy 14-6 today at the World Aquatics U20 World Championship. Julia Bonaguidi was named player of the match after she scored six goals while Christine Carpenter and Lauren Steele combined for eight saves in the cage. Team USA advances straight into the quarterfinals on Thursday at 3pm et/12pm pt with the opponent TBD. Live streaming of all matches is available through the World Aquatics YouTube page by clicking here. Live stats of all matches are provided from Microplus by clicking here.

Team USA got the first goal of the game half a minute in courtesy of Kamryn Barone. Shortly after, the Americans earned a penalty and cashed in when Bonaguidi rang the register from five meters. Italy would halve the deficit with a great bar down goal before Bonaguidi put home back-to-back goals to push the lead to three with an early hat trick. The Italian side would strike back with consecutive goals of its own to leave the score at 4-3 in favor of the United States after one.

Bonaguidi remained aggressive to start the second quarter, scoring first to add to her total. Emily Ausmus got involved from there when she buried a penalty attempt followed by a fadeaway shot that beat the goalkeeper. Carpenter and the Team USA defense held strong all quarter long to send the game into halftime with a 7-3 American lead.

The Italians earned a penalty and converted on the attempt to begin the third period but Bonaguidi had an immediate answer on the other end. Next, Steele dropped a perfect pass to Ausmus who put it away on the counter attack and Lucy Haaland-Ford scored to give the United States double digits on the day. Late in the period, Ausmus rose up from deep to beat the shot clock buzzer as Team USA took an 11-4 advantage into the final frame.

In the fourth, it was Haaland-Ford who had the first word. She followed it up with another score to notch a second half hat trick. Midway through the quarter, Bonaguidi chimed in again to run the American lead to ten. From there, the Italians scored again for the first time since the opening moments of the half but it was too little, too late as Team USA claimed the 14-6 win.

Team USA went 1/2 on power plays and 1/1 on penalties while Italy went 0/3 on power plays with no penalties attempted.

Scoring – Stats

USA 14 (4, 3, 4, 3) J. Bonaguidi 6, E. Ausmus 4, L. Haaland-Ford 3, K. Barone 1

ITA 6 (3, 0, 1, 2) E. Bianco 2, E. De March 1, B. Rosta 1, B. Cassara 1, C. Malluzzo 1

Saves – USA – C. Carpenter 6, L. Steele 2 – ITA – O. Sesena 4

6×5 – USA – 1/2 – ITA – 0/3

Penalties – USA – 1/1 – ITA – 0/0