Volleyball Wins its 1000th Program Victory in Five-Set Thriller

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - In five-set fashion, the No. 5 University of Tampa volleyball team reached its 1000th win by defeating Eckerd College 3-2. Senior Danielle Selkridge turned a 26 kill performance in the five set thriller to give Tampa the milestone.

The Spartans improve to 14-2 on the season with a 7-0 in the Sunshine State Conference while the Tritons fall to 11-7 and 5-2 in conference matchups.

Tampa becomes the eighth NCAA Division II program to reach its millennial win and the fourth fastest to accomplish the feat (33 seasons). Florida Southern College represents the only other SSC team with the accolade.

Four Spartans tallied double-digit kills in Selkridge, Meagan Burke, Holly Reschke and Jessica Yingling. Outside hitter Yingling and Reschke also notched double-doubles as the twosome had 15 and 13 digs respectively.

Net- tenders Selkridge and Burke blocked five and three attacks respectively while libero Jen Scholz picked up 23 digs. Setter Kahley Patrick spun a 48 assist performance, also posting 11 digs for the third Spartan double-double.

Eckerd took the premier set of play, as the back-row presence of outside hitter Ali McAlvany notched five kills for the Tritons. Senior Spartan Yingling mirrored with her own five kill performance. Sophomore Burke and junior Reschke each tendered a pair of kills for the UT squad who dropped the first stanza 20-25.

The Spartans rallied in the second set behind dominating performances by Selkridge and Yingling. The duo planted six and five kills respectively while Scholz dug out six Triton attacks to limit the opposition to a .150 attack percentage in the 25-16 victory.

Eckerd spoiled another strong performance from Selkridge, as the senior grounded another five kills, but the Tritons pulled off a 25-23 third set win. Both squads swung at a .333 clip as Lindsay Biggs posted eight kills for EC.

Some late set magic, or seven kills from Selkridge, gave the Spartans a 26-24 fourth set win. The Tritons were poised to pull off the upset as the UT squad faced a 20-24 deficit. Scholz tallied a well placed shot over the net to force a fifth set from Eckerd.

Tampa took the fifth set of play by a score of 17-15 as Selkridge grounded the match winning kill to continue conference perfection.

The Spartans return home to face the final SSC opponent in Barry University on Friday, Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. Live stats as well as a live video webcast will be available through www.tampaspartans.tv.

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