Crusading Spartans Topple The Fighting Knights

Boca Raton, Fla. – No. 4 Spartans beat the Fighting Knights to cap off another clean weekend of SSC play

Final Score: Tampa 3 (1: 25-15, 2: 25-23, 3: 28-26), Lynn 0

Records: No. 4 Tampa (10-0, 3-0 SSC), Lynn (9-3, 3-1 SSC) 

Location: De Hoernle Sports & Cultural Center| Boca Raton, Fla.

HOW IT HAPPENED: 

First Set: The Spartans came into the first set with a strong offensive presence, maintaining a steady lead, but a 4-0 run in their favor put the set at 14-9 which signaled a timeout from Lynn's coach, Adam Milewski. The Spartans scored another 3 straight points following the timeout but the Knights shortly answered with a 5-1 run of their own which scored the set at 18-14 as Tampa called their first timeout of the day. The break for the Spartans proved useful as they went on to close out the set on a 7-1 run, Nathaly Perez led both teams with 6 kills in the first set. | Score: 25-15 (Tampa)

Second Set: The Spartans were able to quickly assume a 4-2 lead in the second set, with it growing to as big as 5 points at 11-6. But Lynn kept up and eventually went on a 6-3 run of their own which called for the first timeout of the set for the Spartans. The Knights came out of the Spartans' timeout and went on an 8-4 run which withered the lead that the Spartans had built and even put the set in favor of the Knights at 20-18 as the two teams headed into an additional timeout, courtesy of Tampa. The Spartans were able to work their way back into the set, forcing the Knights to respond with a timeout of their own, still leading 23-22. However, with massive back-to-back kills from Perez, the Spartans regained the lead at 24-23 and the Knights called another timeout in an attempt to save the set. But Mackenzie Dufresne and Perez ended Lynn's second-set hopes with a clean block at the net. | Score: 25-23 (Tampa)

Third Set: The largest lead of the third set didn't come until Tampa took a 16-14 due to back-to-back attack errors from Lynn. The set progessed with the Spartans maintaining and slowly building on their lead. After allowing the Knights to get within one point of their lead, at 23-22, the Spartans called their first timeout as they looked to close out the set and match. However, Coach Catanach had to call a second timeout after Lynn scored another 2 points which gave them the lead at 24-23. Similar to the Spartans' first set yesterday against Barry, the set went past the 25-point mark with a total of 8 lead changes and 15 ties. Following some nail-biting action, Hayley Dillon was able to capitalize on a steady set from Dufresne as she closed out the set and match with a kill. | Score: 28-26 (Tampa)

INSIDE THE STATS: 

• Nathaly Perez recorded 16 kills
• Hayley Dillon, Jenna Davis, and Nathaly Perez each hit over 0.415
• Four Spartans had double-digit digs: Emily Noe(13), Kalli Cors(15), JJ Ramirez(17), and Tess Schrenger(13)