West Florida Ends Tampa’s Season in South Regional

TAMPA, Fla. - The No. 6 ranked University of Tampa (27-5) volleyball team was upset by No. 16 West Florida (31-7) 3-0 in the semifinals of the NCAA Division II South Regional.

The Spartans opened the match hot getting to a 3-0 lead before West Florida took control to take the first game 25-19. The second set saw more success for the Argos as they built a five point lead that they would not relinquish and took the second set 25-20. The third set was no different as UWF would take it 25-19 to seal the upset victory.

Melissa Vanderhall led the Spartan offense with double figure kills with 11 and registered 12 points overall. Senior Danielle MacDonald and sophomore Sam Macks each turned in five kills while SSC all-freshman selection Eva Dupay had four. Gabriela Saade led the team in assists with 19 and Meghan Sherman added 11.

The UT defense saw nine Spartans notch at least one kill with senior Camila Saade posting a team high 16 digs. Tampa finished with 41 digs overall, while West Florida had 51. Each team recorded six total blocks, as Tampa's Macks finished with four.

The Spartans made their fair share of errors as the team collected 20, while the Argos only committed 15. Tampa was held to a .119 attack percentage, but also held UWF to just .217.

UT concludes the 2008 season as the Sunshine State Conference champions. Tampa looks forward to next season as it returns a stable of young talent led by SSC Player of the Year Melissa Vanderhall.