Spartans Send Greyhounds on Bus Back to Indy
PENSACOLA, Fla. - No. 7 University of Tampa volleyball defeated No. 19 University of Indianapolis in a three set sweep in Friday night's NCAA Semifinal match.
Tampa improves its overall record on the season to 32-3. The Greyhounds of the Indianapolis finish off its year at 31-8.
The Spartans are now just one win away from being NCAA Champions. UT will meet no other, than Concordia - St. Paul in the championship match. The meeting will be a rematch of the championship game in 2010, where Concordia defeated Tampa in four sets.
Leaders for the Spartans tonight were Danielle Selkridge and Meagan Burke. The senior, Selkridge, connected for 18 kills and also contributed three blocks. Burke swung at a 10-14 mark, leading the team with a .571 attack percentage.
Selkridge, the recently named NCAA National Player of the Year, got the Spartans moving by swinging at a 5-9 clip in the opening set. Tampa grounded 14 kills in total in the frame, good for a .344 attack percentage. Kahley Patrick received the assists on ten of the kills as Tampa picked up the opening frame victory, 25-18.
The Spartans carried its strong play into the second frame, defeating the Greyhounds 25-20. The Tampa ensemble of Burke, Marissa Lisenbee and Jessica Yingling connected for three kills each to pace the offense. UT also had four total team blocks on the set to hold off a comeback attempt by Indianapolis.
The final stanza featured high amounts of excitement as the teams switched leads constantly, with Tampa finishing on top, 27-25. Selkridge had back to back kills to finish off the Greyhounds and send UT to the National Championship. Other leaders in the set were Burke and Yingling, who grounded five and three kills, respectively.
Tomorrow night's NCAA Championship will begin at 8 P.M. EST. The Golden Bears of Concordia have won the NCAA title for the past five years. They post an overall record of 32-4 on the season and are coming off a 3-1 victory over the Seasiders of BYU-Hawaii.
Live stats and live video of the match are available at http://www.ncaa.com/sports/volleyball-women/d2.
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