No. 4 Spartans Sweep New Haven to Begin the Sandy Hoffman Memorial Tournament

WALTHAM, MA. – No. 4 Spartans sweep New Haven in the first of two Friday matches to begin the Sandy Hoffman Memorial Tournament.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP: 

Final Score: Tampa 3 (1: 25-15, 2: 25-14, 3: 25-15) , New Haven 0

Records: No. 4 Tampa (4-0, 0-0 SSC) , New Haven (3-2, 0-0 NE10)

Location: Dana Center | Waltham, MA.

HOW IT HAPPENED: 

First Set: After splitting the first 8 points of the game, an ace followed by a kill by Tess Schrenger gave the Spartans a cushion, putting Tampa up 8-4. However, the Chargers rallied back, tying the set at 9 apiece. The Spartans would later pick their momentum back up, leading 16-11 forcing a New Haven timeout. An Emily Noe set allowed for a picturesque kill from Mackenzie Dufresne, giving the Spartans a 21-14 lead. Jenna Davis ended the set with a kill. Score: 25-15 |Tampa

Second Set: The second set began the same as the first, with a lot of back-and-forth action. The Spartans were up 6-5 and Noe kept the play alive and eventually set up Dufresne for the kill, extending the Spartans lead to 7-5. An ace from Schrenger put the Spartans up 11-6 leading New Haven to call a timeout. Later on in the set, Rachel Gregg's block gave the Spartans a 14-7 lead. The Spartans continued to pull away from the Chargers after a dig from Madison Hankins kept a late volley alive, resulting in Spartans winning the point and increasing the lead to 20-10. Score: 25-14 | Tampa

Third Set: Eying a three-set sweep, the Spartans found themselves down 6-3 early on in the third set, the largest deficit of the day. Davis recorded back-to-back blocks with help from fellow Spartans Jenna Vaske and Schrenger. After the Spartans scored 9 straight points, the Chargers called a timeout down 12-6. A perfect back set from Noe gave Vaske the kill and added to the Spartans lead making it 16-10. Down 18-10, the Chargers called another timeout. Grace Greninger's kill ended the set as well as the match. Score: 25-15 | Tampa

INSIDE THE STATS: 

• Lily Lucas made her Spartan debut and logged her first dig

• Dufresne recorded a .778 hitting percentage 

• Schrenger and Hankins each recorded 10 digs