Tampa Falls to Barry in Five-Set Battle

MIAMI SHORES, Fla.  – The University of Tampa Spartans traveled to Miami Shores and faced off against the Barry University Buccaneers in a Sunshine State Conference matchup. The two teams played a five-set thriller as Barry ended up coming out on top. The Spartans record dropped to 5-6, 1-2 SSC while the Buccaneers improves to 7-4, 2-1 SSC.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Spartans were able to jump off to a quick 3-0 lead behind their three leading hitters so far in the season Sorrel Houghton, Katie Mckiel, and Kamari Potter. These three started the games with three back-to-back kills. This did not discourage the Buccaneers as the first tie of the game came at 4-4. From there, Barry continued to run away with the first set. Barry finished the set on a 9-0 run with the final score being 25-11.

Both teams came out firing in the second set as neither team could get one up on the lead. In the beginning, the game was tied four times by the time the score was 9-9. Barry then went on a run to give themselves a four-point lead. Tampa went on an even bigger run that tied the game back up and gave them their second lead of set. The Spartans were happy to have Melissa Elias return as she offered the big kill that gave them the lead. Potter helped finish the set as she finished with four kills and three assisted blocks. Mckiel had the set-winning kill (25-22) as she finished with three kills in the set.

The third set started with a kill by Potter who was having a good game so far. Both teams kept close of each other in the beginning until the Buccaneers went on a five-point run that gave them a four-point lead at 11-7. The rest of the set remained close in points, but Barry finished it off 25-10. Barry seniors Kishara Gordon and Kristina Filimonova finished the set with a combined nine kills.

Both teams started the fourth set battling aggressively. There were a total of nine ties and five lead changes all the way up until mid-set. Houghton showed up for the Spartans as she recorded eight kills in this set. Mckiel continued to fight as well as she recorded nine kills in the set. Barry still fought to keep it within close distance of Tampa, but they could not hang on. There were a total of 20 ties and eight lead changes for the entire fourth set. The wire came down to a battle between Mckiel and Barry's Megi Buvinic as they were killing blow for blow. Houghton stepped in and assisted Mckiel to close out the set on top at 30-28.

 The fifth and final set started off with the Buccaneers jumping to an early lead. A kill by Buvinic had Barry up by four at 10-6. Tampa then fought back by going on a 4-0 scoring run. Tampa eventually tied the game up at 13-13, but Barry recorded the last two points of the match, winning at 15-13.

INSIDE THE STATS

• Katie McKiel  led the Spartans in kills once again, as she recorded 19. She also added five digs on the night.
• Kamari Potter  was an offensive and defensive force as she registered 11 kills and five assisted blocks. She finished with a .500 hitting percentage.
• Sorrel Houghton finished with 15 kills.
• Melissa Elias had an all-around game as she collected 14 digs, 14 assists, six kills, one solo block, and assisted on three blocks.
• Tampa's season leading scorers Mckiel, Houghton, and Potter combined for 45 kills.
• Sammy Mueller  paced the way for the Spartans, as she totals 39 assists and 12 digs. 

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE

• Tampa still leads Barry in the all-time series at 55-18.
• Potter records a new career-high in kills with 11.

UP NEXT

UT will return to action tomorrow evening as they face-off against Palm Beach Atlantic on the road. The match is set to begin at 4:00 p.m.

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