Top Ranked Spartans Strike Trojans At Rattler Invitational

San Antonio, Texas. – The Tampa Spartans open up their Rattler Invitaional campaign with a decisive victory over the Anderson Trojans.

Final Score: Tampa 3 (1: 25-20, 2: 26-24, 3: 18-25, 4: 25-14 ), Anderson 1

Records: Tampa (4-0, 0-0 SSC), Anderson (3-3, 0-0 SAC)

Location: Bill Greehey Arena | San Antonio, Texas.

HOW IT HAPPENED: 

First Set: The Spartans' first set of the Rattler Invitational tournament was tied a total of 7 times and there were 4 lead changes between Tampa and Anderson. However, the Trojans attempted to separate early on as they held a 10-6 lead but, the Spartans scored 8 of the next 10 points and an ace from Zoey Seput sent the Trojans into their first timeout of the match. Anderson was forced to call another timeout as they fell down 19-13 but the break fueled 6 straight points, in addition to Head Coach Chris Catanach's first timeout. A late 5-0 Spartan run that included back-to-back aces from freshman, Connor Rahn, set the score to 24-19. A kill from Hayley Dillon, marked Tampa's 19th of the set, ended the first set of the match just two plays later. | Score: 25-20 Tampa

Second Set: Unlike the first set, the second began in favor of Anderson with the Trojans jumping out to a 5-1 lead that led to an early Spartan timeout. Eventually gaining momentum, Tampa knotted the set at 15 all after a dominating block from both Jenna Davis and Dillon. The Spartans continued this mid-set momentum with another two blocks and three kills, two of which coming from Senior, Jenna Vaske giving the Spartans the late 22-20 lead. Although Anderson made things interesting by tying up the set at 24-24, Tampa closed out the set with an attack error from the Trojans.   | Score: 26-24 Tampa

Third Set: By way of a few Anderson errors, coupled with a kill and a block from Tess Schrenger, Tampa jumped out to a 6-3 lead in the third set. The Spartans lost their early lead at 8-9 following back-to-back-to-back kills from the Trojans and unfortunately wouldn't be able to regain control of the third set. Unable to get their offense flowing in their third set against Anderson, Tampa was held to team hitting percentage of .027 and couldn't string together more than two points in a row before the Trojans took back control. Down only 4 points late, Coach Catanach called Tampa's second timeout of the set but, it wasn't enough as Anderson went on to score 5 of the last 7 points to capture their first set against Tampa.  | Score: 25-18 Anderson

Fourth Set: Tampa began the fourth set with dominance early that included an ace from Kalli Cors, quickly followed up by a kill from Schrenger, and finally a block from Davis before Anderson took their first timeout of the set. Looking to wrap up their first match of the weekend, the Spartans maintained a strong lead at 13-8 as the set headed into another Trojan timeout. With a team hitting percentage of .654, the Spartans dominated the final set en route to their first victory of the weekend with their largest lead of the set being 11.  | Score: 25-14 Tampa

INSIDE THE STATS:

• Three Spartans recorded double-digit kills: Tess Schrenger (13), Kalli Cors (12), and Rachel Gregg (10).

• Jenna Davis led the match with 6 blocks.

• JJ Ramirez tallied 15 digs