Spartans Fall Short Against Some of the Nation’s Best
DELAND, Fla. - Spartans take on some of the nation's best teams this past weekend in the Stetson Spring Fling.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final Scores:
Match 1: Tampa 0, No. 18 Stetson 3
Match 2: Tampa 0, No. 4 Florida State 3
Match 3: Tampa 0, No. 2 USC 5
Record: Tampa 6-5
Location: Stetson Spring Fling || DeLand, Fla.
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HOW IT HAPPENED:
Day 1:
v.s. No. 18 Stetson: Tampa's weekend began facing the tournament host, the Stetson Hatters, in the morning rain. The 4-6 pairings kicked off the day, with the Spartans sliding sophomore Sara Szalay into the 4's matchup to play with senior Katie McKiel. Both the 4's and 5's dropped the first set, but simultaneously took the second shortly after. Claire Overton and Valerie Rosequist, who represented the Spartans in the 5's matchup, were be edged out in a close third set by a score of 15-13. Before the 4's matchup could conclude, the match was sent into lighting delay. Following the extended break, the Hatters would take the third set 15-9. Although it looked as though Tampa was going to take the 1's and 3's matchup, Stetson took the 2's in straight sets and because of the extended delay, the match concluded after Stetson took the 2's and the match ended 3-0.
v.s. No. 4 Florida State: In their second match of the day, the Spartans took on FSU in a rematch of their early season visit to Tallahassee. Maddie Brunick made her first appearance of the season for Tampa, playing in the 3's with senior Melissa Elias. The 1's challenged the top pairing for FSU, and the 5's maintained consistent fight, but all three matchups would go the Seminoles way in straight sets. Similar to earlier in the day, the match was only played to a decision.
Day 2:
v.s. No. 2 USC: On day two of the tournament, the Spartans would challenge the reigning NCAA Champions and No. 2 ranked USC Trojans. The 1's pairing of Julia Oswald and Rachel Rosequist gave Olympian Tina Graudina and her partner Hailey Harward a run for their money in the first set, the Trojans narrowly edging out the Spartans 21-19. The 2's pairing for Tampa, Kiersten Anderson also hung around with the Trojans but were similarly edged out 21-19 in the first set. USC would eventually take the second set in each of the first two matchups, and sweep the day, 5-0.