No. 3 Spartans Checkmate Choctaws In Dominating Fashion

Orlando, Fla. – No. 3 Tampa Wins Again At NCAA South Region Crossover

Final Score: Tampa 3 (1: 25-15, 2: 25-12, 3: 26-24), Mississippi College 0

Records: No. 3 Tampa (19-0, 11-0 SSC), Mississippi College (9-10, 7-3 GSC)

Location: Game Point Events Center | Orlando, Fla.

HOW IT HAPPENED: 

First Set: The Spartans, and Choctaws, who had already beaten the Saint Leo Lions in the Crossover Tournament, both entered the first set with a strong offensive presence that prohibited either team from jumping out to an initial lead. However, a 7-1 run in favor of Tampa, which included 4 Spartan kills, gave Tampa the 12-8 lead, which then caused Mississippi College's coach, Shawna Laurendine, to call the team's first timeout of the match. Although scoring 3 of the next 4 points, the Choctaws couldn't chip away from the Spartan lead and it wasn't until an impressive kill from Nathaly Perez, who had 7 kills in the first set alone, that caused another Choctaw timeout, down 20-14. Soon after the break, Tess Schrenger closed out the first set with a kill. | Score: 25-15 Tampa

Second Set: Similar to the first set, neither team could obtain an early lead as there were 2 lead changes and 7 ties within the first 16 points. After the set was tied at 8-8, Perez had 3 straight kills which fueled the Spartans to go on a massive 17-4 run, in which the Choctaws attempted to disrupt with two separate timeouts. The interruptions proved unsuccessful as the Spartans were able to dominate their way to close out the second set, by way of their high-flying offense. Tampa recorded a kill percentage of .500 and a hitting percentage of .429 in their second set of the day. | Score: 25-12 Tampa

Third Set: With the Spartans eyeing their perfect record on the season and the Choctaws hoping to live for another set, both teams came into the third set hungry and it showed on the court. In total, the set had 10 ties and 5 lead changes, but in the middle of the set, the Choctaws went on a 4-1 run and took their largest lead of the day at 15-11, which then signaled Coach Catanach to call the Spartans' first timeout of the day. However, Mississippi College continued on a slight run, even through Tampa's efforts, the Choctaws still scored 6 of next 10 points and were looking to close out the set until the Spartans called their second timeout as they were now down 21-15. Tampa was able to gather themselves during the break, scoring 6 of next the next 8 which was capped off by a perfect Mackenzie Dufresne block and only interrupted by a Choctaw Timeout. Immediately out of the timeout, Perez had back-to-back kills and the Spartans were only down 23-22 now. Tampa closed out the set on an 11-3 run that began back with their timeout. | Score: 26-24 Tampa

INSIDE THE STATS:

• Nathaly Perez recorded 19 kills
• Tampa hit .474 as a team
• The Spartans outkilled the Choctaws 46-29