December 5, 2014

No. 1 Spartans Roar Past Lions En Route to NCAA Championship

Box Score
Box score
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The No. 1 ranked University of Tampa Spartans volleyball team (33-1) earned a trip to the NCAA Division II National Championship game, Friday night, with a 3-1 victory (25-9, 25-17, 21-25, 25-17) over the Arkansas Fort-Smith Lions (29-5) in the Final Four contest. The triumph marks the Spartans' sixth trip to the National Championship.

Senior All-American Meagan Burke gave the No. 1 Spartans the first point of the contest, and Tampa's offense was ignited from there. Rallying off nearly six straight points, Tampa's momentum forced the Arkansas Fort-Smith Lions to utilize both timeouts early - the first at 6-1 and the second at 14-3. Despite the attempts to slow Tampa's offensive surge, multiple kills from Burke, Megan Heffron, Jessica Wagner, Berkley Whaley, and Marissa Lisenbee propelled the Spartans to a 25-10 first set victory. When the whistle blew to end the set, Tampa had recorded 14 block assists, allowing just six Lions kills.

The Lions captured the first point of the night's second set, but Tampa quickly responded to take an early lead. Though Arkansas Fort-Smith was able to regain their footing and string together some points in the game, the Spartans rallied for a 25-17 set two victory to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Through two sets, Burke, Patrick, Wagner, Whaley, and Lisenbee all had attack averages over .400 for the match.

Despite a 2-0 match lead in the Spartans' favor, the Lions came out in set three hungry for victory and were able to seize their first lead. Tampa responded quickly, but both teams fought nearly point for point until the Lions were able to pull away at 18-18 and capture three quick points for a 21-18 lead. Refusing defeat, a kill from Lisenbee and two Tampa block assists put Tampa within one point, but the Lions' offensive surge was stronger. Despite the Spartans' efforts, four lead changes, and 11 ties, Arkansas Fort-Smith was able to take the third set by a 25-21 score.

The Spartans came out swinging in set four, taking an early lead and refusing to look back. Despite a hard-fought effort from the Lions, it was Tampa who controlled the game, earning a 25-17 set victory and taking home the match.

Leading the charge offensively for the Spartans was junior outside hitter Berkley Whaley, who led all players in the match with 18 kills. The AVCA 2014 National Player of the Year ended the match with a .486 attack average, a performance that was rivaled by junior All-American middle blocker Jessica Wagner, whose 11 kills came at a .688 clip. Neither player committed an attack error throughout the contest.

Junior All-American Marissa Lisenbee ended the night with the second-highest number of kills, recording 13 and attacking for a .357 average. Junior right-side hitter Megan Heffron followed her lead with 11 kills, while senior All-American Meagan Burke registered five at a .500 clip.

Managing the offense was senior All-American setter Kahley Patrick, earning 57 assists on the evening at a rate of 14.25 assists per set. The squad's captain also picked up three kills at a .750 average

Defensively, six Spartans players registered a block or block assists in the effort, as Tampa out-blocked Arkansas Fort-Smith 15 blocks to three.

From the back row, freshman libero Molly McAlvany and All-American Berkley Whaley led Tampa in digs, with 16 apiece. Kahley Patrick and freshman Kelsey Watts followed their lead, earning 11 each. Every Sparans' player recorded a dig in the victory, and the defensive performance marks Whaley's eleventh double-double of the year.

As a team, the top-ranked Spartans earned an attack average of .401 through three sets, recording 63 kills to the Lions' 48. Both teams picked up a service ace, and five Tampa players recorded attack averages over .300.

Tampa will compete against Southwest Minnesota State in the 2014 National Championship contest on Saturday, Dec. 6 at 5:30 p.m. at the Division II Festival of Championships in Louisvile, Ky. The two teams met previously this season on Sep. 12, when the Mustangs handed the Spartans their only loss of the year at the Colorado Premier Classic tournament in Colorado.

Live stats will be made available through www.tampaspartans.com.

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