Tampa Volleyball Claims No. 1 Rank in AVCA Poll
LEXINGTON, Ky. - After taking sole possession of the Sunshine State Conference crown, the University of Tampa volleyball team reclaims the top spot in nation as per the latest AVCA Division II poll.
The Spartans pass previous No. 1 team Concordia, St. Paul as the Golden Bears drop to No. 3 after losing a five-set thriller to now No. 2 ranked Minnesota-Duluth. BYU-Hawai'i and Central Missouri remain the No. 4 and No. 5 teams respectively.
The No. 1 rank marks the 27th time in program history that head coach Chris Catanach's squad has earned the top spot, good for second all-time behind Concordia (48). UT has been recognized in 241 consecutive polling periods which is an active streak second only to that of Central Missouri.
Regional foes Palm Beach Atlantic and West Florida come in at No. 19 and No. 21 teams respectively as UT is the lone representative of the SSC.
The Spartans sit at 27-1 this season and are riding a 20-game win streak heading into the final set of contests in the regular season. Tampa has been victorious in an astounding 33 consecutive conference meetings dating back to Oct. 29th, 2011 and is currently a perfect 14-0 for the 2013 campaign.
Outside hitter Berkley Whaley earned her fifth SSC player of the week accolade as the UT volleyball team has picked up 11 of the weekly awards. Middle blockers Jessica Wagner and Meagan Burke each have earned three so far this season.
Tampa looks to close out the season with a pair of road matches against Nova Southeastern University and Lynn University. The UT squad will meet the NSU Sharks for a 7 p.m. Friday start and then finish up the regular season with a 2 p.m. contest against the Fighting Knights of Lynn. Live stats will be made available through www.tampaspartans.com.
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