Spartans Get Swept in First Day at Colorado Premier Challenge
September 8, 2017

Spartans Get Swept in First Day at Colorado Premier Challenge

The No. 2 Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs, and the No.8 Ferris State Bulldogs live up to their rankings to defeat the No. 20 Tampa Spartans.

DENVER, Colo. – Concluding day one of the Colorado Premier Challenge, the No. 20 University of Tampa volleyball team was swept in both matches on their first day of action at Regis University.
 
The Spartans fell in three to the No. 2 ranked Southwest Minnesota State and then again to No. 8 Ferris State in a similar fashion. UT started the weekend tournament with a 2-2 overall record and now sit 2-4 on the season.
 
The Mustangs of Southwest Minnesota State had too much horsepower for the Spartans to handle. After a hard fought first set, SMSU ran away with the victory, thus carrying momentum into the remainder of the match. The momentum shift also could be contributed to the injury on sophomore Katie McKiel. McKiel posted a hitting percentage of .250 before going out with an ankle injury. The Mustangs defeated UT in three sets with scores of 25-22, 25-19, and 25-14. 
 
Sophomores Nicole Dominguez and Taylor Fosler finished the match with seven kills apiece, hitting .176 and .700 respectively. Additionally, the two led UT on defense, Dominguez with nine digs and Fosler with four blocks. The setting duo of Sammy Mueller and Jen Aprile had 18 and 12 assists respectively, while each recording five digs. Senior Shelby Joslin, logged the Spartans only service ace of the match.
 
Tampa then went on to face the No. 8 ranked Ferris State Bulldogs who defeated Tampa in a similar fashion. Set scores of the match were 25-22, 25-21, and 25-21. 
 
Once again, the Spartans were led defensively by Dominguez with 11 digs, followed by Aprile with nine digs. Another key contributor to UT's offensive performance was freshman Nylah Demps. Demps ended the match with seven kills on a .294 hitting percentage in addition to having four blocks.  Freshman Kaitlyn Ajmani logged time at the libero position for the Spartans, ending the three sets with seven digs, two assists, and two service aces. 
 
Day two of the Colorado Premiere Challenge will resume tomorrow at 9:00 A.M. MDT with a matchup against the third place team from pool 2 (Central Missouri, Regis, or Tarleton State). 
 

 

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