Tampa Set for Sugar Beach Bash
Youngsville, LA. – Spartans visit Louisiana for the Sugar Beach Bash following another successful home tournament.
About the Spartans: The Spartans travel to Youngsville, Louisiana where Southern Louisiana University hosts its second-ever Sugar Beach Bash. The Spartans are set to take on Alabama-Birmingham, Boise State, Stephen F Austin, and Houston Christian University. Tampa nears the midpoint of their regular season with a 7-7 record and the No. 20 national ranking. The Spartans boast two top-20 wins over No. 11 FAU and No. 17. South Carolina and have given other top-ranked teams a run for their money along the way with only one of their losses coming to a non-ranked opponent. Standouts for the Tampa lineup are most notably Keely Hamilton and Madison Brunick, who boast a 10-4 record on the season with two of their losses coming against an elite Florida State squad. The Spartans take on Alabama Birmingham in their opening matchup of the weekend and look to crest a .500 record in the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
About Alabama-Birmingham: The Blazers enter the weekend with a season record of 7-5, three of their losses coming against ranked opponents. ABU comes off a 2-2 weekend in Fort Worth, TX at the Horned Frog Challenge where they claimed wins over UC Davis and Stephen F. Austin but fell to Texas A&M Corpus Christi and No. 5 TCU. The Blazers field a young roster with eight freshmen and only four seniors, a combo of which make up their most successful pairing who hold a 9-3 record on the year. ABU makes their first appearance this weekend in a clash against Tampa and looks to claim the first win in series history.
About Boise State: The Broncos hold an 11-6 record entering the weekend, with four of their six losses coming to ranked opponents, namely No. 12 Hawaii on two occasions. The Broncos return from a 4-3 weekend in Moana, Hawaii after playing seven duels in three days. During their time on the Pacific, they claimed two wins over Chaminade, split two duels with Saint Mary's College, and fell to No. 12 Hawaii in both matchups. The Bronco's top pairing of Marlayna Bullington and Sierra Land field a 9-3 record and have proved to be worthy matchups for top opponents. The Broncos square off against tournament hosts SLU in their opening matchup of the weekend and look to improve to 2-0 in series history. The Spartans will take on Boise State on Friday afternoon in the programs first-ever meeting.
About Stephen F. Austin: The Lady Jacks enter the weekend with a 5-7 record and look to rebound from a four-game losing skid at the Horned Frog Challenge at TCU. Another program that fields a younger roster, The Lady Jacks have only two graduate students and no seniors on the top end and are driven through their young core. Stephen F. Austin claims the only win in series history against Southern Mississippi, who they open the weekend against, and look to claim the first-ever victory in series history against the Tampa Spartans on Saturday morning.
About Houston Christian: Following their 4-1 against Central Arkansas to start the season, the Huskies have been on an unfortunate 11-game slide and hold a 1-11 overall record. Six of the Huskies' losses can be attributed to ranked teams, of note are elite squads No. 6 LSU and No. 4 TCU. Despite their record, HCU has experience against top-20 teams and is primed for matchups against other schools that might not have faced the talent that the Huskies have seen. The Huskies open their weekend against New Orleans and look to notch their 15th program win in series history. The Spartans look to claim the second win in series history following the programs' first meeting last weekend in Tampa.
This Weekend's Schedule: The Spartans square off against Alabama-Birmingham and Boise State on Friday 3/15, at 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM respectively. Then Tampa takes on Stephen F. Austin and Houston Christian at 10:00 AM and 12:00 PM on Sunday 3/16.