No. 9 Spartans Down No. 22 Tritons 3-0

TAMPA, Fla. - The ninth-ranked University of Tampa Spartans volleyball team took care of the No. 22 Eckerd College Tritons 3-0 (25-12, 25-19, 25-21) tonight at the Bob Martinez Sports Center. The win is the fifth win this season over a ranked opponent as Tampa improves to 15-2 and 6-1 in conference play while Eckerd drops to 9-7 and 3-4.

The Spartans established an early dominance as it put up six blocks in the first set as Tampa cruised to a 25-12 win. UT spotted EC a 15-10 lead in the second until the Spartans went on a 5-0 run to knot things up. After going back and forth for a few points, a Jessica Yingling kill put Tampa up for good as it went on to win 25-19. The final set was the closest of all the games as the Spartans had a narrow two-point advantage late. UT was finally able to wrap things up after back-to-back kills from Brianne Yeates and Sam Macks to sealed the win for Tampa.

Kaleigh Cunningham finished the evening with a team-high 11 kills, committing just one error to finish at a .435 hitting percentage. Yingling ended with nine kills and no errors and Macks, Melissa Vanderhall, and Danielle Selkridge each turned in seven. The Spartans hit a fantastic .473 as a team while holding the Tritons to a .121 mark.

Junior setter Meghan Sherman registered a double-double handing out 38 assists and scooping up a team-best 12 digs. The digs are also a career high for Sherman and were the most in the match. Eva Dupay, playing the libero position, also notched a career best in digs as she finished 11.

UT out-blocked Eckerd 11-1, including Sherman who also registered another career high in blocks with five. Macks put up five blocks of her own and Camille Hanks bumped her team lead adding three more.

The Tritons were led by Lydee Benoit as she was the only player for Eckerd with double-figures in kills with 10. Taylor Manning pitched in six kills and Megan Golovkin tallied 21 assists.

The Spartans are back in action this Friday night on the road at Barry for a 7 p.m. match. 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.