#9 Spartans Sweep The Day To Put Catanach On Verge Of 800th Victory
TAMPA, Fla. - The ninth-ranked University of Tampa volleyball team (20-2) scored a pair of 3-0 victories over Arkansas-Monticello (10-15) and North Alabama (14-12) on the final day of the South Region Crossover. The two wins move head coach Chris Catanach to 799 career victories.
Against UAM in the first match, the Spartans rolled by posting scores of 25-16, 25-20, 25-6. Tampa outhit the Cotton Blossoms by a .415 to .078 clip. The Spartans also forced 18 hitting errors by UAM while also recording nine blocks.
Kaleigh Cunningham led all Spartans with 11 kills as Brianne Yeates turned in nine. Meghan Sherman added 30 assists while Melissa Vanderhall had three service aces.
Eva Dupay startered at libero and led UT with 13 digs as Cunningham finished with a double-double while adding 10 digs. Cunningham also led Tampa with five blocks as Camile Hanks chipped in four. Three of Cunningham's blocks were solo.
In the nightcap against North Alabama, Tampa hit a blistering .500 to take the game 25-16. Cunningham continued her torrid hitting going 7-9 to pace the Spartans. The second game saw UT build a 20-15 lead, then UNA was able to go on a 7-2 run to knot the score at 22. A kill by Yeates gave the lead back to Tampa as they were able to hang on for the 25-23 decision. Then in the final set, the Spartans took an early 4-3 lead and slowly pulled away to another 25-16 win.
Cunningham once again led all Spartans in kills with 13 as she was tied with Sarah Roberts for the match high. Vanderhall, Hanks and Danielle Selkridge each turned in nine kills as the team finished with a .376 hitting percentage. Junior setter Meghan Sherman tallied 41 assists and put down four kills of her own on five attempts.
The Tampa defense was able to hold the Lions to a .196 attack percentage as Julie Howlett notched a match-best 18 digs while Cunningham added eight. Hanks put up three blocks, although the Lions held the advantage 6-5 over the Spartans.
The Spartans return to action on Friday as it will resume Sunshine State Conference play and host Lynn University on Homecoming. The match will begin at 7 p.m. at the Martinez Center.
In recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness month, the Tampa volleyball team will be donning pink jerseys for all home games in the month of October culminated with Dig For The Cure on Oct. 24 against Nova Southeastern. The team will be accepting donations for the cause, which will allow participants to enter for a chance to win three tickets to the University of Florida's football game against Vanderbilt on Nov. 7. The drawing will take place on Oct. 30 at the home game against Rollins, and all proceeds will go to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation.
Tampa will offer a webcast and live stats for all games on Saturday through www.tampaspartans.com. Fans may follow University of Tampa athletics on Twitter (www.twitter.com/utspartans) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/tampaspartans). UT also offers eScores, which is a free text messaging service that sends text alerts following all Spartan events.