No. 5 Tampa Pulls Away from Tritons in Conference Opener

Box Score TAMPA, Fla. - The University of Tampa showed why it is one of NCAA Division II's top volleyball programs, dominating after Eckerd tied the match in set two on its way to a 3-1 win over the Tritons on Friday night in the Martinez Center.

The No. 5 Spartans were nearly untouchable in the third and fourth sets, winning both by scores of 25-10 as the Tritons couldn't find an answer to their multi-headed attack.  Tampa finished the night with an impressive .342 attacking percentage, including a .552 mark in set four.

Eckerd (5-3, 0-1) took its only set in the second stanza, finishing strong on the way to a 25-21 win.  EC took control with three points in four rallies to go up 21-18 and, after a Berkley Whaley kill, rattled off three more - two on kills by Tjasa Kotnik - to get to set point.  Tampa stayed alive with the next two points before Katie Arnette finished it off with a kill.

Unfortunately for Eckerd, it did nothing to rattle the defending national champions who in turn stepped their play up in the ensuing set.

UT (7-3, 2-0) jumped out to a 9-3 lead in the third set off of eight Eckerd errors.  A run of six straight Spartan points extended the lead to 15-5, then finished the set by taking eight of the last nine points.  The fourth set was very similar with the Spartans taking a quick 8-3 lead, then rolling off nine straight points to push ahead, 23-8.

Eckerd stayed step-for-step with Tampa in the first set until the Spartans took control with 11 straight points to turn a 12-12 tie into a 23-12 lead.

Kotnik paced the Tritons with 12 kills while Arnette had 10 and Lauryn Nelson added eight.  Kaitlyn Sibson led the back row with 14 digs.  Emily Schadow assisted on 33 of the team's 37 kills.  Tampa had three players reach double-digits in kills, led by Marissa Lisenbee's 17.

The win for Tampa was its 54th consecutive victory in Sunshine State Conference play.  Eckerd was the last team to hand the Spartans a conference loss, pulling off the upset in October 2011.

The Tritons now must shake off the loss and move on to prepare for Saint Leo (5-3, 0-1), which pays a visit to the McArthur Center tomorrow at 4:00 PM.