Skip to navigation Skip to content Skip to footer
Spartans Get One Match from Sharks
February 17, 2020

Spartans Get One Match from Sharks

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.- The University of Tampa Spartans faced off at the Nova Southeastern Sharks in a Monday morning match. The match, originally scheduled for Saturday afternoon (suspended and postponed by inclement weather), started at 10 a.m. to begin the workweek. After losing to #1 Barry on Sunday, the Spartans faced a quick turnaround, and a similar result, versus the fifth ranked team in the nation.

Final: #5 Nova Southeastern University: 6, The University of Tampa: 1

Team Records: The University of Tampa: 1-3, #5 Nova Southeastern University: 4-0

How it Happened:

  • Tampa lost all three doubles-matches for the first time this season. The Spartans forwent doubles competition yesterday at Barry.

  • Ekaterina Grib and Savannah Williams notably lost 6-0 to Nova Southeastern's Natalie Espinal and Sarah Wardenburg. The top nationally-ranked pairing of Espinal and Wardenburg are an undefeated duo this season (19-4 overall record in 2019).

  • Grib won the Spartans only match, as she defeated #4 Natalie Espinal 2-3 with Espinal retiring after five games played.

  • Dakota Busch (playing as Tampa's #5 singles) was forced to retire at 6-6 (3-6) in the first set in a competitive match against Sarah Wardenburg. Wardenburg's victory clinched the match victory for the Sharks.

  • In the four fully played matches the Spartans lost, Tampa players won at least three games in seven out of eight sets lost.

Up Next: Tampa continues a busy beginning to the season, facing off against Bates College in Orlando, Fla., tomorrow at 4 p.m. The neutral-site match will be held at the USTA National Complex. The Spartans defeated the Bobcats 7-2 in the only match between the two teams in 2008. Tampa is then set to return to Tampa for a home SSC match vs. #18 Florida Southern College. UT and FSC faced off in the UT Invitational (1/31-2/2) to start the season 1/31-2/2.

Follow UT Athletics: @TampaSpartans on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

Text Alerts: UT also offers a free text messaging service that sends text alerts following all Spartan events. To sign up, please register at www.tampaspartans.com.

Front Row: Download the official app of UT Athletics on the Apple or Android store. Look for the Tampa Spartans Front Row app to receive notifications from your favorite Spartan teams. The app is completely free.

Results