No.2 Spartans Skewer Sailfish in Regional Showdown

TAMPA, Fla. - Dominating with a team .357 attack percentage, the No. 2 University of Tampa volleyball team thwarted No. 17 Palm Beach Atlantic University 3-1, Saturday in the Bob Martinez Athletics Center.

The Spartans improve to 11-3 on the season while the visiting Sailfish fall to 10-3 in their 2015 campaign.

Setter Gina Clarke tuned the Tampa offense to its highest attack percentage this season, assisting a career-high 60 attacks. Senior Jessica Wagner bounced a career-best 18 kills at a whopping .500 attack percentage while junior Allee Stelogeannis mirrored with her own .500 hitting clip, terminating 13 kills for UT.

Reigning AVCA Player of the Year Berkley Whaley led both squads with 20 kill, spinning a double-double effort with 16 digs. The Spartan offense produced a fourth athlete to reach double-digit kills as Marissa Lisenbee swatted 15 as Tampa drilled the Sailfish for 71 kills as a team, another season-high mark.

Defensively, libero Logan Holanchock covered the floor, notching 26 digs in the four-set contest, adding five assists and a perfect 1.000 on serve-receive. Seniors Lisenbee and Wagner paced the UT defense at the net, blocking three Sailfish swings apiece. The defense held PBA's leading scorer and AVCA All-American Faith Rohn to a meager .043 attack mark (8-6-46).

Tampa opened the match with a monster first set from Whaley, as the outside hitter dealt an 8-kill salvo in the premier frame to lead the Spartans to a 25-19 victory. UT hit a scorching .436 to open the match as Wagner added a 6-for-10 first act to roll through the Sailfish.

The back-and-forth second set saw 10 tied scores and four lead changes as PBA picked up a close 27-25 win. Sailfish outside hitter Jen Cook posted seven kills to lead all players while libero Rachel Holehouse notched eight digs for the visiting team. For the Spartans, it was Wagner and Lisenbee that traded blows on offense as the duo combined for 11 kills at a .550 clip.

The Spartans earned a 25-20 third set win behind the dominating performance of Stelogeannis, as the outside hitter grounded an errorless 7-for-11 in kills. Whaley added four kills as UT took a 2-1 advantage on the match.

UT finished the match with a blistering fourth set, hitting .536 as a team. Wagner and Lisenbee combined forces again to pummel nine kills in 12 swings without committing an attack error as the Spartans roughed up the Sailfish 25-12 to close out the match.

Head coach Chris Catanach's squad will hit the road for a series of contests, beginning with a rival bout against No. 6 Florida Southern College in Sunshine State Conference action. The Thursday night contest will begin at 7 p.m. in Jenkins Field House on the campus of FSC in Lakeland, Fla.

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