Spartans Play Trio of Matches at LSU Beach Invitational on Day One
BATON ROUGE, La. – Tampa falls in a trio of matches to tough competition on day one of the LSU Beach Invitational.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final Scores:
Match 1: No. 4 Florida State 5, Tampa 0
Match 2: No. 6 LSU 5, Tampa 0
Match 3: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 4, Tampa 1
Record: Tampa 8-8
Location: LSU Beach Volleyball Stadium || Baton Rouge, La.
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HOW IT HAPPENED:
vs. No. 4 Florida State: For the third time this year, the Spartans traveled away from home to take on Florida State. Similar to the previous two meetings though, the Spartans came up short in their attempt to take down the No. 4 ranked Seminoles. Tampa didn't go down without a fight, however. Julia Oswald and Rachel Rosequist challenged FSU's 1's in the first set, pushing the game to 21-19, and Tampa's 4's hung around to push both of their sets within five points.
vs. No. 6 LSU: In their second match of the day the Spartans took on No. 6 ranked LSU, the first time in history that the two programs have battled. Sara Szalay and Katie McKiel, who represented Tampa in the 4's, proved to be no easy challenge for the Tigers. Szalay and McKiel came out firing and took the first set 21-19. Unfortunately, the Tigers responded strongly, and took both the second and third sets. Tampa's threes looked as though they would push the first set to extra points but were narrowly edged out 21-19. The tigers took each matchup, except for the 4's, in straight sets.
vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi- Tampa concluded day 1 of the LSU Beach Invitational taking on Texas AM Corpus Christi for the first time in the program's short history. Tampa's 1's fell in straight sets to the Islanders, however, the Spartan's 4's were able to swiftly take their match in straight sets, 21-19 and 21-11. Each of the other three matchups went to 3 sets. Keely Hamilton and Valerie Rosequist, Tampa's 5's pairing, pushed the islanders to extra points in the third set, but ultimately fell short. It looked as though the fatigue set in for the Spartans playing their third match of the day, and similar to the 5's, the 2's and 3's came up short in the third set.
UP NEXT: The Spartans continue play on the second day of the LSU Beach Invitational tomorrow, Sunday, March 26th. Tampa takes on No. 2 TCU at 9:00 AM EST and Louisiana Monroe at 3:00 PM EST.