#6 Tampa Survives Late Rally To Beat Dowling College
TAMPA, Fla. - The sixth ranked University of Tampa (21-2) volleyball team held off East Coast Conference opponent Dowling College (26-5) to win the match 3-2.
Dowling opened the match strong recording five of their first 10 points off of blocks on its way to a 25-20 victory. Tampa responded in the second set by hitting .586 and winning 25-18 to even the match at one. The third set saw Tampa continue its hot hitting as they won 25-17 on the strength of a .550 hitting percentage.
The Golden Lions rallied in the fourth to win 25-21 and force a fifth set. The fifth set was evenly played as there were seven tied scores. With the score tied at 12 points each, senior Danielle MacDonald registered a key solo block that sparked Tampa on a 3-1 run to win the deciding set 15-13.
MacDonald would finish the match with a team high 18 kills, while sophomore Melissa Vanderhall had 17. The other two Spartans with double digit kills were Kaleigh Cunningham with 11 and Sam Macks with 10 and a .833 hitting percentage.
The Spartan defense was evenly spread out as no player recorded double figures in digs. Senior Gabriela Saade led the team in digs and assists with eight and 27, respectively, as she split duties with Meghan Sherman who had 26 assists.
Macks turned in two solo blocks as four other Spartans had registered a solo block as well. UT finished the match with 13 total team blocks, while Dowling had 10. The Spartans also held the edge in hitting percentage as UT hit .388, and Dowling .323.
Tampa will be back in action Tuesday as they host Flagler at 7 p.m. UT will offer live stats and a webcast through www.tampaspartans.com. Fans may also sign up for eScores through the website, a free service that sends text messages on Spartan athletic events.