Spartans Ravage Fighting Knights in Straight Sets
TAMPA, Fla. - Continuing their perfect Sunshine State Conference record, the No. 3 University of Tampa volleyball team coasted past visiting Lynn University 3-0 Friday night. The Spartans improve to 13-1 with a pristine 5-0 SSC tally while the visiting Fighting Knights dip to 12-6 with a 2-3 conference mark.
UT has taken 24 straight conference victories dating back to the 2011 season.
Sophomore Berkley Whaley paced the offense to the tune of 13 kills at a .556 attack percentage to pave the way to a Tampa victory. Fellow sophomore Marissa Lisenbee swatted 11 kills while reigning SSC Player of the Week Meagan Burke swung a perfect 5-for-5. This marks the second time this season Burke recorded a perfect hitting percentage.
Setter Kahley Patrick spun a double-double for the UT squad, assisting 17 attacks while also flashing her defensive prowess with 10 digs. Libero Frances Cardenas led the floor with 11 digs in her two sets of work while middle blocker Jessica Wagner blocked five attacks.
Lynn middle Mary Claire Angelish posted a six-block performance for the Fighting Knights who were limited to a .071 attack percentage thanks to the defensive efforts of Tampa.
Tampa took the premier set 25-12 off a hot-start from outside hitter Whaley, who grounded six kills to begin the contest. Burke smacked two in as many swings while Cardenas covered the floor with six digs.
The momentum continued in the second stanza as Patrick served up her first of two aces in the match. Whaley sent off another barrage of four kills to take the set 25-16.
The match concluded with a 25-20 final set score as Lisenbee belted a set-high five kills while Patrick and libero Jen Scholz notched seven and six digs respectively.
The Spartans return to the Martinez Athletics Center Saturday with a 4 p.m. matinee against SSC foe Nova Southeastern University. Live stats as well as a live video webcast will be made available through www.tampaspartans.tv.
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