No. 5 Spartans Cruise Past Florida Tech 3-0
TAMPA, Fla. - The fifth-ranked University of Tampa Spartans volleyball team made quick work of the Florida Tech Panthers 3-0 (25-15, 25-11, 25-16) to open up the four-game home stretch. With the win, the Spartans bump its record to 13-1 and 4-0 in Sunshine State Conference play while the Panthers drop to 6-6 and 0-4.
In the opening set, Tampa slammed 15 kills on a .406 hitting percentage on its way to a 10-point win. Melissa Vanderhall was four of seven and Sam Macks and Jessica Yingling each recorded three kills.
Defense was the story in the second game as the Spartans put up five blocks and held the Panthers to a .000 attack percentage. Macks had four stops while Vanderhall had three to go along with four kills to help lead UT to a 25-11 win.
The final frame saw Vanderhall put down another four kills to lead Tampa to a 25-16 win to end the match.
Vanderhall finished as the only player in the match with double figures in kills with 12 and did so at a blistering .579 rate. She and Yingling finished with a team-high 14.5 points as Yingling finished with nine kills and three service aces. Junior setter Meghan Sherman handed out 30 assists and was a perfect four-of-four in kills to help the offense finish with 40 kills at a .347 clip.
Sophomore Julie Howlett notched a team-best 13 digs to pace the back row as 10 Spartans recorded at least one dig. Both teams finished with 43 digs and Tampa held the advantage in blocks at 7-4.
Tampa stays home this Wednesday to face SSC rival Florida Southern at 7 p.m. UT will offer live stats and webcast through www.tampaspartans.com. Fans may follow University of Tampa athletics on Twitter (www.twitter.com/utspartans) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/tampaspartans). UT also offers eScores, which is a free text messaging service that sends text alerts following all Spartan events.