Spartans Stifle Tritons in Crucial SSC Showdown

TAMPA, Fla. – Holding its opponent to a meager -0.010 team attack percentage, the No. 23 University of Tampa volleyball team decimated Eckerd College in straight-sets on Tuesday night in the Bob Martinez Athletics Center. Freshman Taylor Fosler posted six kills and five blocks to lead UT to a 3-0 win.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:

Final: No. 23 Tampa 3, Eckerd 0 (25-15, 25-18, 25-15)
Records: Tampa Spartans (15-6, 6-3 SSC), Eckerd Tritons (14-7, 6-3 SSC)
Location: Bob Martinez Athletics Center| Tampa, Fla.
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HOW IT HAPPENED:

Set 1 | UT began the match with a swift offense, opening with a .370 attack clip as a team. Fosler hit a pristine 4-for-4 to begin play, adding a block while libero Logan Holanchock held the Tritons to a .000 attack percentage with six digs. The Spartans won the set 25-15 to put Eckerd in an early hole.

Set 2 | The Eckerd offense continued to struggle as the UT defense held the Tritons to a negative team attack percentage in the second stanza. Holanchock and outside hitter Nicole Dominguez kept the Triton attack off-balance, posting five and four digs, respectively.  Freshman Katie McKiel converted all three swings for kills as the Spartans came away with a 25-18 second set.

Set 3 | Tampa's defense continued to put on a show, as the Spartans combined for six blocks in the third set to close out the match. Fosler stopped three Eckerd swings, including two solo blocks while senior Allee Stelogeannis posted a deafening solo block to stymie the Tritons. The outside hitter finished the set with three kills as Tampa sealed the win behind a 25-15 final set.

INSIDE THE STATS:

• Fosler finished the match with five blocks and six kills while fellow middle blocker Alexandra Misca added four blocks to her credit.  Freshman Dominguez finished with three blocks, including a pair of solo efforts as the Spartans combined for 12 team blocks.

• Stelogeannis finished with a match-high eight kills while fellow outside McKiel added six at an even .500 clip. Right side hitter Gen Beaumier added five kills as the Spartans used a rounded attack to takedown the top-team in the conference standings.

• Holanchock and Dominguez led the UT back row, notching 14 and eight digs, respectively.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• Tampa held its opponent to a negative team attack percentage for just the second time this season. The first was in UT's first game of the year on Sept. 2 against Franklin Pierce.

• For the first time this season, no individual Tampa student-athlete recorded double digit kills. Stelogeannis ends a 20-match streak of swatting at least 10 kills after posting a match-high eight against Eckerd.

• UT needed just 31 kills in the three set match, its lowest kills total all season. UT recorded its most kills of the season in its previous matchup to Eckerd on the road, blasting 70 kills in four sets.

UP NEXT:

The Spartans will travel east to meet Rollins College for a Friday night matchup on Oct. 28. Live stats and a live video webcast will be made available through www.tampaspartans.com.

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