No. 1 Spartans Glided Past the Mocs To Advance To NCAA South Regional Finals

TAMPA, Fla. – No. 1 Seed Tampa Advances To The NCAA South Regional Finals After Defeating the No. 5 Seed Florida Southern.

Final Score: Tampa 3 (1: 25-19, 2: 25-15, 3: 25-20), Florida Southern 0

Records: No. 1 Tampa (30-1, 19-1 SSC), No. 5 Florida Southern (21-10, 13-7 SSC)

Location: Bob Martinez Sports Center | Tampa, Fla.

HOW IT HAPPENED: 

First Set: The Spartans opened up the match with an early four point run that included two aces from Zoey Seput to capture the lead. However, the Mocs responded with two kills from Mackenzie Petermann to knot the set at 4-4. Both teams started to have some back and forth action until the Spartans capitalized on two Mocs errors and a kill by MacKenzie Dufresne to recapture the lead at 11-7. The Florida Southern head coach, Ashlee Crowder, called for the first timeout of the match, but this would be no use as the Spartans continued to extend their lead. After three straight kills from three different Spartans to set the score at 17-11, another timeout was called by the Mocs coach. The Mocs continued to scrap away in the set, but it would not be enough as the Spartans would go on to close out the set with a Emily Noe-assisted kill by Kalli Cors. | Score: 25-19 Tampa

Second Set: The Spartans came into the second set with a surge of confidence as they took control of the set straight away. After capturing another early lead that was aided by kills from Jenna Davis and Nathaly Perez, Tampa took advantage of several Mocs errors and kills from Dufresne and Tess Schrenger to extend the lead to 10-6. In hopes of shifting the momentum back to their side, Coach Crowder called for a timeout. This would only reignite a small spark in the Mocs as they seized three straight points with kills from Zoe Lowe and Elena Djokovic to trail by 9-10. Yet, Tampa responded with a five point run, prompting another timeout from the Florida Southern side. But it was too late for the Mocs as Perez extended the lead for the Spartans to 19-11 with three kills. The Spartans would go on and take the second set off a Mocs service error. | Score: 25-15 Tampa

Third Set: The set saw early back and forth action between Florida Southern and Tampa. With an ace from Noe and three Mocs errors, the Spartans regained the lead at 8-3. After calling a timeout, Florida Southern started to see the floodgates opening as three different Mocs had kills that knotted the set at 10-10. However, Tampa would hold them off and snag the lead at 17-14 with three Perez kills and 2 Schrenger kills. The last timeout for Florida Southern would be used, but it would be no help as Tampa had all the momentum on their side. The Spartans would close the set and win the match off a kill by Cors. | Score: 25-20 Tampa

INSIDE THE STATS:

• The Spartans held the Mocs to a 0.061 hitting percentage

• Perez recorded 11 kills in the match

• Seput (19) and Noe (14) tallied double-digit assists