Tampa Opens Premier With A Victory

DENVER - The No. 2 University of Tampa Spartans (4-1) took down the No. 14 Lewis University Flyers (6-1) by a 3-1 score in the opening match of the Colorado Premier on Friday night. Melissa Vanderhall and Jessica Yingling combined for 29 kills as the offense hit at a .385 pace.

The Spartans took the first set 25-17 before falling in game two by the same score. Tampa made several adjustments then which resulted in 25-13 and 25-18 victories.

Vanderhall, the reigning two-time SSC Player of the Year, led the offense with 16 kills at a .333 rate. Yingling added 13 more kills and committed just one error to notch a .571 attack percentage.

After the second game, the Spartans added junior Eva Dupay into the mix who slammed home seven kills and added seven digs. Sophomore Danielle Selkridge was stellar in her first start of the season, registering nine kills on a .429 clip.

Junior libero Julie Howlett anchored the defense, tallying a match-high 14 digs. Selkridge had a hand in three of Tampa's five blocks on the night, but Lewis had the edge with six. The Spartans were able to limit LU's offense to just a .206 hitting percentage and forced 19 errors.

Meghan Sherman handed out 47 assists and dropped in four kills as well.

The Flyers used a balanced attack as five players recorded at least five kills in the match. Carly Perschnick was the only Flyer to hit double-digit figures with 10.

Tampa now moves into the gold division where it will face a tough Southwest Minnesota team that entered the tournament as the 10th-ranked team in the land. The Mustangs are 6-0 on the season and beat No. 16 West Texas A&M and No. 12 Metro State earlier in the day.

First serve is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. MST and the winner will play in the championship match at 7 p.m. MST against the winner of No. 1 Concordia and No. 19 Wayne State. The loser of each match will play in the third place game at 5 p.m. MST.

Tampa will offer a webcast and live stats through www.tampaspartans.com or on www.gometrostate.com.