GAMEDAY ADVANCE: Tampa Set For a Busy Week of Action
TAMPA, Fla. - Tampa will kick off their week with two matchups against No. 20 Florida Gulf Coast on senior night.
About the Eagles: The No. 20 ranked Eagles come into tomorrow's double header with an overall record of 17-5 with all 5 of their losses coming to ranked opponents. They do however, sport impressive wins over #17 ranked Stetson as well as a pair of wins against both Charleston and North Florida. The Eagles enter the match with Tampa on a seven-game win streak, with their last loss coming to the hand of No. 2 ranked USC on March 16th. The Eagles outdueled the Spartans in a thriller just last week and the upcoming matchups will be the ninth and tenth meetings in history, with the Eagles currently holding a 5-3 series advantage.
About the Spartans: The 2021 AVCA small college champions are 10-11 heading into their only home match of the season with a statement win coming early in the year against No. 8 Cal Poly (2/27). The team followed that up with another big win over the College of Charleston (3/4). The Spartans have played their toughest schedule in program history thus far this year, with nine of their losses coming to top ranked 20 programs including No. 2 USC and two losses to No. 3 FSU.
Tampa's #1's, Juniors Julia Oswald and Rachel Rosequist are 9-9 as a pairing and have faced arguably the best pairing in the country in USC's #1's Tina Graudina and Hailey Harward, losing 21-19 in both sets.
The Spartans are represented by Kiersten Anderson and Payton Brunick in the #2's. The pairing is an impressive 12-7 on the season with convincing wins over Cal Poly, FGCU, North Florida, and College of Charleston. Payton's twin sister, Maddie, plays in the #3's pairing alongside senior Melissa Elias, who are also 10-8 on the year and hope to continue success after experimenting with different partners last weekend in Palm Beach.
Senior #4's Katie McKiel is likely to play with Sara Szalay in the 4's. The pairing look to regroup after a tough stretch of losses, but never cease to bring a spark of energy to the Spartan's lineup.
Valerie Rosequist, twin sister of Rachel, is 7-11 on the year and has been the only consistent player in the #5 pairing, having played with Claire Overton, Selina Pfuner, Keely Hamilton, and Cassidy Ehrie throughout the year.
Tampa plays only 4 more matches after this Tuesday before the teams travels too Hickory Point Beach to defend their title at the AVCA Small College Championship.
About the Eagles: The No. 20 ranked Eagles come into tomorrow's double header with an overall record of 17-5 with all 5 of their losses coming to ranked opponents. They do however, sport impressive wins over #17 ranked Stetson as well as a pair of wins against both Charleston and North Florida. The Eagles enter the match with Tampa on a seven-game win streak, with their last loss coming to the hand of No. 2 ranked USC on March 16th. The Eagles outdueled the Spartans in a thriller just last week and the upcoming matchups will be the ninth and tenth meetings in history, with the Eagles currently holding a 5-3 series advantage.