Spartans Complete Comeback to Win in Five Sets

TAMPA, Fla.  – The University of Tampa Spartans welcomed in the Lynn University Fighting Knights into the Martinez Center for a Sunshine State Conference matchup. After dropping the first two sets, the Spartans made a comeback, winning the game in five. Tampa improves to 9-6 overall and 5-2 in SSC play. Lynn has now dropped two consecutive games, and sit at 11-3 and 4-2 in SSC.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Lynn was first on the board, as Sonja Udovcic recorded a kill after a long rally to open the game. The two teams traded points throughout the first set, as Lynn was the first team to reach 15 points, holding a 15-13 advantage. LU would finish off the first set with a kill from Victoria Macaluso, winning the opening set 25-21.

The Fighting Knights opened the opening set on a 4-0 run, causing the Spartans to call an early timeout. UT was able to bounce back and pull within one point with the score 10-9 in Lynn's favor. LU was able to go on another run scoring eight of the next nine points to go ahead 18-10. Lynn would wrap the set up with a kill, winning the set 25-15.

UT would win the opening point of set three following a kill from Sorrel Houghton. After falling behind LU 14-10, the Spartans went on a 5-0 run to take a 15-14 advantage. Tampa would not let go of that lead as they finished off set three with a kill by Houghton. Tampa earned the set victory with a final score of 25-23.

Tampa would score first again in set four, as Mackenzie Dufresne would record her fourth kill of the game. The Spartans were firing on all cylinders early on being the first team to 10 points, holding a 10-3 advantage. Later in the set, Lynn used a 10-1 run to pull within one point at 15-14. That was followed by a Spartans timeout. After the timeout, the Spartans were able to go on a run of their own, scoring the next five points, pushing the lead to 20-14. UT scored the 25^th point of the set after a block error by Lynn.

In the fifth set, the Fighting Knights would jump out to a 3-0 lead. The Spartans would battle back as they were the first to eight points, holding an 8-6 advantage as the teams switched sides. Tampa would win the final set by a final of 15-8, with Houghton recording the final kill. As a team, UT hit in the final frame.  

INSIDE THE STATS

• Sorrel Houghton led the Tampa attack as she finished with 19 kills and finished with 12 digs.
• Katie McKiel finished the game with 15 kills and 18 digs.
• Melissa Elias had a great game as she finished with 10 kills and 14 digs. Elias was one assists away from her second career triple-double, as she had nine assists.
• Sammy Mueller dished out a game high 41 assists.
• Nicole Dominguez finished the game with 24 digs.   

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE

• Three Spartans recorded double-doubles in the game.
• Tampa is now 2-1 in five-set matches this year.
• Tampa now holds a 43-3 lead over Lynn.

UP NEXT

Tampa returns to action next Friday, October 11 as they travel to Melbourne to face off against the Florida Tech Panthers.

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