Spartans Regain Form, Sweep No. 25 Saint Leo

SAINT LEO, Fla. - Coming off a stunning upset last week, the fifth-ranked University of Tampa Spartans volleyball team rebounded with a sweep over No. 25 Saint Leo University on Tuesday night at the Marrion Bowman Activities Center. Tampa improves to 11-3 and 3-1 in the Sunshine State Conference while SLU drops to 8-6 and 4-2 in conference play.

The two teams opened the match even as they exchanged points to make it 7-7. Tampa then went on an 8-4 run to force the Lions to take a time out. The move worked as Saint Leo battled back to knot the score at 15. Back-to-back kills by Jessica Yingling helped UT build a three-point lead that it would not give up, going on to take the opener 25-22.

Set number two went a little smoother for the Spartans as they jumped to a 3-2 lead and never looked back. Yingling slammed home five kills in eight attempts to help Tampa register a 25-15 victory, giving the visitors a 2-0 advantage in the match.

Not wanting to be shutout at home, the Lions did everything they could to keep pace with the Spartans, erasing a two-point deficit to even the third frame at 19. A pair of errors by SLU put Tampa back ahead by two and Eva Dupay capped off a 25-22 victory with a kill.

Yingling and Melissa Vanderhall finished the contest with 11 kills each, tying Saint Leo's Celeste Bonter for the match high. Dupay chipped in with seven more kills off the bench and Sam Macks contributed with six.

The Spartan offense was paced by senior setter Meghan Sherman who tallied 39 assists and added three kills. Sherman was also instrumental defensively, racking up 10 digs for her sixth double-double of the season.

Vanderhall also turned in a double-double -her second- with a season-high and match-best 15 digs. Libero Julie Howlett ended the contest with 12 digs and Macks notched a career high with seven.

Nine team blocks helped Tampa limit the Saint Leo attack to a .172 mark as Sherman had her hand in six stops at the net, along with four each from Macks and Danielle Selkridge.

Tampa returns home this Friday to face SSC foe Lynn at 7 p.m. Fans can follow along online with live stats and a webcast through tampaspartans.com.