PREVIEW: 2021 NCAA Division II Elite Eight
TAMPA, Fla. – The University of Tampa volleyball team clinched the South Region championship on Saturday against tournament #1 ranked West Florida. This is the 18th South Region championship in program history. The last time the Spartans won the South Region was in 2018, where they went on to win the National Championship.
The weekend in Pensacola was a very successful trip for the Spartans. The first match against Palm Beach Atlantic was a sweep. The second match was against another Sunshine State Conference opponent, Nova Southeastern and that was a 3-1 win. So, they finished up the year against conference opponents 6-1 on sets. They then went on to beat West Florida 3-1 to clinch the region. The Spartans went down the first set in the final match. All-American Claudia Rivera commented on facing adversity this past weekend; "I was really proud of us being able to stay patient."
So, the stage is set. The Elite Eight will be held December 9-11 at the Bob Martinez Center. This is the second time the University has hosted the tournament. The last time the Spartans hosted was in 2015; they did not participate.
Coach Chris Catanach shared his thoughts on hosting the tournament; "I'll be honest with you, I'm so happy I don't have to work it. I don't have to do that this year, so that's pretty cool. Back in the day the eight teams that made it, got selected based on bids. Now that we have the neutral site, it's really difficult to do. We are kind of following the Buccaneers with the first time the Super Bowl was played with the home team and win. We have the opportunity to do that, so we're pretty excited about that."
What some of the players had to say about being able to play in their home building; Senior Sorrel Houghton said, "our only two loses have been at home, however, we're going in with the mentality that this is not our home court -- it's going to the sport court, and it's not going to have the Spartan head in the middle. We are going in with a completely different mentality, we like to call ourselves 'road warriors' -- this is still on the road for us. It's really exciting to be able host this big tournament."
At the pre-tournament press conference Seniors Sorrel Houghton and Katie McKiel were asked about if they had any advice for the younger players on the team since they were in the same position in 2018. Both players empasized to "just soak it all because this might be the only opportunity they'll have."
This week will be a test to see if the Spartans can hoist the trophy for the fourth time in program history.
Full coverage of this year's NCAA Division II National Championship can be found at diivolleyball.com.