No. 23 Tampa Ousts Lynn in the South Region Quarterfinals

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Opening the NCAA Division II Women's Volleyball South Region Tournament, the No. 23 University of Tampa volleyball team bested Lynn University by a 3-1 final score on Thursday afternoon to advance to the regional semifinal.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: No. 23 University of Tampa 3, Lynn University 1 (18-25, 25-17, 25-21, 25-13)
Records: Tampa Spartans (23-8), Lynn Fighting Knights (20-11)
Location: Rubin Arena | West Palm Beach, Fla.
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HOW IT HAPPENED:

Set 1 | Lynn used all of its weapons to begin play, as Nicol Colonna, Lydia West and Cleuza Porto each finished with three kills. Tampa right side Gen Beaumier posted four kills while Nicole Dominguez totaled six digs with a pair of service aces. The Fighting Knights came away with the first set to pick up a 1-0 lead on the match behind a 25-18 score.

Set 2 | Senior Allee Stelogeannis notched nine kills in the second set alone to even the match at 1-1. The outside hitter tripled her first set production with 12 total kills through two sets of play. Tampa took the frame by a 25-17 score.

Set 3 | Three Spartans grounded three kills apiece as Beaumier, Stelogeannis and middle hitter Alexandra Misca held the offensive tempo in the third set. Stelogeannis secured a double-double with 15 kills and 13 digs through three stanzas. UT took the back-and-forth frame by a 25-21 set score.

Set 4 | Stelogeannis blasted five kills in the frame to oust the opposition in the fourth set. Tampa won by a decisive 25-13 final score to advance to the regional semifinal. Beaumier added four kills while Dominguez grounded three kills.

INSIDE THE STATS:

• Senior Stelogeannis led the match with 20 kills and came one dig shy of tying the match-high in that category.  The outside hitter added three blocks and two service aces, finishing the contest with 24.5 points.

• With free reign of the Spartan offense for the first time this season, freshman Sammy Mueller posted a career-high 45 assists while setting the Tampa attack to a .298 team hitting percentage. The setter spun a double-double with 11 digs, adding a trio of kills at an even .500 clip.

• Sophomores Beaumier and Misca notched 13 and nine kills, respectively, as the latter converted at a match-leading .615 attack percentage.

• In her most dynamic performance to date, outside hitter Dominguez concluded action with nine kills, 17 digs, two blocks, two assists and two service aces.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• With a whopping 20 kills and 20 digs, outside hitter Stelogeannis notched her team-leading 20^th double-double of the season.

• UT takes the season series against Lynn 2-1 as the Spartans claimed the tie-breaker in the NCAA tournament.

• Tampa's NCAA tournament record improves to 68-29 all-time and the Spartans are 3-0 when facing Lynn in postseason play.

UP NEXT:

UT will meet the winner of the second south region quarterfinal between two-seed Saint Leo and seventh-seeded Florida Southern College. The semifinal matchup will be played on Friday, December 2 at 5 p.m. with live stats and video being made available through www.tampaspartans.com. 

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