#7 Spartans Rally Past Rollins 3-0

TAMPA, Fla. - Kaleigh Cunningham's career night helped the No. 7 University of Tampa Spartans (24-2, 11-1) volleyball team rally from a pair of 24-21 deficit again for the second match in row to defeat the Rollins College Tars (14-15, 2-10) by a 3-0 score tonight at the Martinez Center. The Spartans won by scores of 26-24, 28-26, and 25-19 to keep their consecutive games won streak alive at 30.

In the first set, UT saw a 21-18 lead turn into a 24-21 advantage for the Tars aided by a trio of hitting errors by the Spartans. Kills by Danielle Selkridge and Brianne Yeates, and a block by Eva Dupay and Selkridge tied the game up at 24. Dupay then slammed home a kill followed up by a service ace by Cunningham to give Tampa the first set victory.

Tampa built a six point lead in the second frame at 17-11 when Rollins stormed back with a 10-1 run to take a 21-18 lead. The teams would exchange points until the score was 24-21 in favor of the Tars, when the Spartans made yet another comeback. Consecutive kills by Cunningham, Dupay, and Selkridge leveled the game at 24, and Tampa would go on to take the second 28-26.

Then in the third set, the Spartans slowly pulled away from the Tars and took the match with a 25-19 victory. Cunningham would cap it off with her 20th kill of the match, setting a new career high for the junior.

Cunningham committed just three errors in the match in 36 attempts to give her a blistering .472 hitting percentage. Selkridge and Dupay each finish tied with nine kills to contribute to Tampa's 51 overall. Setter Meghan Sherman tallied 44 assists to help pace the Spartans to a .385 hitting percentage for the contest.

Two Spartans recorded double figures in digs as Molly Krull led the team with 13, and Cunningham turned in 11 to give her a double-double for the second straight affair. Tampa put up 10.5 blocks compared to Rollins' two, with Camille Hanks registering five stops, and Sherman with four.

The Tars had three players with double-digit kills, highlighted by Nikki Hartman's team-high 14. Jenny Sherwood had 11, and Jill Lau notched 10. Kiana Parks handed out 41 assists and Phoebe Corder had a match-best 14 digs.

Up next for the Spartans is a critical SSC game against Saint Leo on the road this Wednesday at 7 P.M. The result of the match will have a big impact for the conference title race, as Tampa trails Saint Leo by one game. UT will offer live stats through www.tampaspartans.com. Fans may visit www.tampaspartans .com and click on Multimedia to view the services. 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.