No. 2 Spartans Spear Sailfish

No. 2 Spartans Spear Sailfish
November 3, 2023

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – No. 2 Tampa Brought Their Brooms To Palm Beach Atlantic 

Final Score: Tampa 3 (1: 25-12, 2: 25-18, 3: 25-14), Palm Beach Atlantic 0

Records: No. 2 Tampa (24-0, 15-0 SSC), Palm Beach Atlantic (9-14, 3-11 SSC)

Location: Rubin Arena | West Palm Beach, Fla.

HOW IT HAPPENED: 

First Set: The Spartans started the match strong by scoring the first 4 points of the day, fueling an 11-4 run aided by back-to-back aces from Emily Noe with another coming from Zoey Seput. Palm Beach Atlantic's coach, Doug Walters, attempted to prevent additional Tampa scoring by calling the first timeout of the day. Although scoring 5 of the next 8 points following the timeout, another 4-0 run from the Spartans led to the Sailfish's second timeout, after a kill from Tess Schrenger. A Sailfish ball handling error closed out the first set, in which the Spartans were never trailing or even tied with the Sailfish.  | Score: 25-12 Tampa

Second Set: Almost directly contradicting the beginning of the first set, the Sailfish opened up with a 6-2 lead to start the second, and Coach Catanch called an early Spartan timeout. Gathering themselves during the break, Tampa scored two quick kills and eventually fought the lead back at 12-11 with a 5 to 1 run as Palm Beach now had to use a timeout of their own. Seput served the Sailfish 3 aces to end the second set, even after the home team attempted to stop her with their second timeout late into the set.   | Score: 25-18 Tampa

Third Set: The third set began with close back-and-forth action, as the two teams were tied 5 times within the first 12 points. However, Palm Beach quickly called a timeout in response to a 4-0 run in favor of Tampa. Unfortunately, for the home team, the Spartan run continued well past the first timeout; Adding 6 out of the next 7 points to their run, Tampa now led 15-7 and Palm Beach had to call yet another timeout. A 3-0 run in favor of the Sailfish shortly followed this timeout, but 5 straight from the Spartans nearly put the set away. The match was ended on a bad set from the Sailfish   | Score: 25-14 Tampa

 

INSIDE THE STATS: