Tampa Ousts Florida Southern Upset Attempt

LAKELAND, Fla. - Stifling its rival's comeback attempt, the No. 2 University of Tampa volleyball team battled No. 14 Florida Southern College to a 3-2 victory on Thursday evening in the Jenkins Field House.

The Spartans were forced to a fifth set for the first time in Sunshine State Conference play since the 2013 season (Nov. 22 vs. Nova Southeastern) and emerged victorious to continue their program record 57th consecutive SSC win. UT improves to 12-3 on the year with a 5-0 record in conference action while the Mocs drop to 13-3, 4-3 in SSC play.

Senior Berkley Whaley outdueled FSC outside hitter Anna Tovo, as the two blasted 20 kills apiece for their respective teams. Whaley concluded with her third consecutive double-double outing, adding 14 digs for Tampa.

Middle blocker Jessica Wagner was an offensive juggernaut, as the reigning SSC Player of the Week unleashed 13 kills at a .435 attack percentage. Senior Marissa Lisenbee pummeled 15 kills as the Spartan offense produced 62 kills across the five-set thriller.

Senior Katarina Milojevic led the defense at the net, blocking a season-high seven FSC attacks. Lisenbee and Wagner chipped in four and three blocks while libero Logan Holanchock led both squads with 24 digs in her first taste of the UT and FSC rivalry. Fellow freshman Gen Beaumier added 13 digs for a career-high to compliment Whaley and Holanchock.

Wagner led the Spartans to a close 25-22 first set victory as the senior posted a near-perfect 4-for-5 opening stanza. Whaley added four kills of her own as UT took a 1-0 advantage on the match.

The second frame was another story altogether. The two squads fought tooth-and-nail as Tampa looked to gain a deafening lead while Florida Southern wanted to even the score. The Mocs were running on all cylinders as they held the momentum early with an 11-7 lead behind seniors Kendall Marotti and Kayshia Brady. Lisenbee ignited the Tampa offense with a series of kills to even the score at 14-14.

The two SSC powerhouses continued their second set battle with nine knotted scores all the way up to 22-22. Senior Lisenbee terminated a kill to give UT a 23-22 advantage before FSC committed a pair of untimely errors as the Spartans took the second set 25-23. The right side hitter finished the set with five kills to total eight through two sets of play. Tampa's defense provided 22 digs as Holanchock led with seven in set two while Whaley and Clarke added six apiece.

Set three was yet another battle between the ranked foes as the largest advantage came at the 22-17 mark with FSC holding the lead and Tampa calling its first timeout. The Mocs maintained their momentum and took the third set with their backs to the wall by a 25-20 score. The third frame saw eight tie scores and two lead changes as FSC clawed its way to a fourth set of action.

Whaley ignited in the fourth set, adding three quick kills to force an early timeout from Florida Southern as Tampa led 6-3. The Mocs evened the set at 8-8 with costly errors from the Spartans. The stanza played out like the three previous, with both teams trading kills to the final points. This set saw 16 tie scores yet the lead changed just three times.

Senior Whaley finished with a team-best seven kills while Mocs outside hitter Anna Tovo mirrored with her own seven-kill effort. FSC finished with a 26-24 fourth set win to force a decisive fifth frame.

Tampa used four blocks in the fifth set to stifle the Mocs comeback attempt, winning the match with a 15-10 final set score.

UT will continue SSC play on the road, meeting Florida Tech in a Saturday matinee at 4 p.m. Live stats will be made available through www.tampaspartans.com.

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