Spartans Advance to NCAA's Final Four

TAMPA, Fla. – The No. 1 seed University of Tampa Spartans volleyball took down the No. 8 seed Augusta University in the NCAA Tournament Championship Quarterfinals, 3-1, Thursday night at the Bob Martinez Athletics Center. Tampa's win secures a spot in the NCAA Tournament's Final Four. The Spartans last trip to the Final Four was during its 2018 National Championship winning season.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:

Final Score: #1 Tampa 3 (2: 25-19, 3: 25-21, 4: 25-20) #8 Augusta 1 (1: 25-20)

Records: #1 Tampa 32-2 (19-1 SSC), #8 Augusta 24-9

Location: Bob Martinez Athletics Center || Tampa, Fla.

Follow Us: @TampaSpartans on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube

HOW IT HAPPENED:

First Set: Set one set the stage for the entire match: a hardnosed, battle-to-the-end affair. The Spartans and Jaguars traded points to a 15-15 tie. The Jaguars went on a 10-5 run to take the first set, 25-20. Score: 1-0 AU

Second Set:  The Spartans and Jaguars again played a tight match with the Spartans first to 15 points. UT took the lead at the 13-12 mark and never relinquished their lead. Katie McKiel tied Spartan teammate Sorrel Houghton with four kills in the set, including the 24th and 25th points, which evened the match. Score: 1-1 Tied

Third Set: Kalli Cors monster third set paved the way for UT's first lead of the match. The Spartans were again the first team to 15, a trend that proved fruitful the rest of the match. The Jaguars roared back to tie things up, 18-18, before 7-2 UT run gave the Spartans a lead they wouldn't give back. McKiel once again earned the sets final point on a kill from Elias, giving Tampa the edge, 25-20. Score: 2-1 Tampa

Fourth Set: AU started the match with two quick kills, picking up an early 2-0 lead. Both teams fought to a 4-4 score before the Spartans reeled off a 15-1 run to take the lead, 19-5. The Jaguars, however, would not go quietly and resiliently fought back with a 15-3 run to pull within two, 22-20. The Spartans rallied and took the set, 25-20. Final: 3-1 Tampa

INSIDE THE STATS:

• Houghton's 27 digs are a career-high. She narrowly missed a double-double, posting nine kills and 27 digs.
• Elias nearly logged a triple-double with 11 kills, 15 assists, and seven digs.
• Emily Noe had a double-double with a match high 24 assists and 10 digs.
• Three Spartans had double-digit kills: Cors (13), Elias (11), and McKiel (10).
• Three Spartans had double-digit digs: Houghton (27), Claudia Rivera (19), and Noe (10).

UP NEXT: The Spartans advance to the Final Four and will take on No. 5 Gannon (Pa.) on Friday, December 10 at the Bob Martinez Athletics Center at 7:30 PM.

GAMEDAY MULTIMEDIA: Fans may watch and follow all Divison II Championship games on diivolleyball.com.

Text Alerts: UT also offers a free text messaging service that sends text alerts following all Spartan events. To sign up, please register at www.tampaspartans.com.

Front Row: Download the official app of UT Athletics on the Apple or Android store. Look for the Tampa Spartans Front Row app to receive notifications from your favorite Spartan teams. The app is completely free.