September 17, 2023
WEEKEND PREVIEW: Spartans Hit Road to Play First SSC Matches Away From Home
TAMPA, Fla. - The Spartans opened up their 2023 Sunshine State Conference play with sweeping victories over Eckered and Florida Southern. Looking to build on their perfect season thus far, the Spartans will travel down south for matchups with Barry and Lynn.
Week 4
Friday, 7 p.m. at Barry
Saturday, 4 p.m. at Lynn
#4 Tampa
- Coming off of a 2-0 weekend, the Spartans recorded 89 kills against Eckerd and Florida Southern, 42 of which came from Kalli Cors and Nathaly Perez. Tallying 39 digs, the SSC player of the week, JJ Ramirez also had an impressive weekend against the first two SSC opponents of the season. The Spartans are currently leading the Sunshine State Conference in the following statistical categories: points, hitting percentage, assists, kills, blocks and opponent hitting percentage. The Spartans faired well against the Knights last season, sweeping them 2 games to none. However, when matched up against Barry last season, Tampa lost 2 out of the 3 games with the final loss eliminating the Spartans from postseason contention.
Barry
- Eliminating Tampa to claim the 2022 NCAA South Region Final, Barry was voted No. 6 in the AVCA preseason coaches poll, only two spots behind the No. 4 Spartans. However, the Buccaneers have started the season 3-5, going 0-2 in Sunshine State Conference play, and currently on a 4 game losing streak. The Buccaneer's early season struggles could be attributed to having 10 new players this season, 7 of which being freshmen, but retained the reigning AVCA Division ll player of the year, Diana Akopova. Barry beat Tampa in 2 out of 3 matches last season, with the last meeting sending Barry to the national quarterfinals.
Lynn
- With a record of 8-2, the Fighting Knights have had an excellent start to their season as they have won 7 straight games. Lynn's season was kicked off with their program's first-ever AVCA preseason ranking, coming in at No. 25. Lynn only lost 6 games last season but 2 of those came at the hands of Tampa, who swept the Knights in 2022. The Fighting Knights' Emily Edwards was just named the Sunshine State Conference Setter of the Week for the second week in a row.