Tampa Starts Fast, Sweep Florida Tech in Return Home

TAMPA, Fla. - The Spartans return home and celebrate SSC title with a sweep of Florida Tech.

Final Score: No. 1 Tampa 3 (1: 25-11, 2: 25-22, 3: 25-22), Florida Tech 0

Records: No. 1 Tampa (27-0, 19-0 SSC), Florida Tech (14-13, 9-10 SSC)

Location: Bob Martinez Athletic Center | Tampa, Fla.

HOW IT HAPPENED: 

First Set: Tampa started well, winning seven of the first eight points behind a pair of aces and three kills from Jenna Davis. With a lead of 12-7, Tampa scored six straight points with a pair of kills from Tess Schrenger among them. Tampa would use a late ace from Ana Rivera to close out a dominant first set. | Score: 25-11 Tampa

Second Set: The second set began with Nathaly Perez recording a kill and a block to give Tampa a 2-0 start. Tampa was able to build their largest lead of the set at 12-8 off of a kill by Connor Rahn. The Panthers would battle back and take the lead until Rahn tied the set at 16 and then again at 17. Set two was the closest of the night with 11 ties and eight lead changes, but Tampa was able to close it out with four straight points including a pair of kills from Perez with one coming on set point. | Score 25-22 Tampa

Third Set: Tampa used the momentum from the end of the second set to build an early 5-1 lead in set three punctuated by an ace from Rahn. Tampa would use this start along with three kills in a seven point span from Perez to build a sizeable 16-6 lead. The Panthers would show their grit though and get the Tampa lead down to 19-17, but Rachel Gregg would stop the bleeding for the Spartans making the score 20-17. Tampa would get kills from five different players and close out the match by never trailing in the third set. | Score 25-22 Tampa

INSIDE THE STATS:

• Nathaly Perez led the Spartans with 12 kills and hit .500.
• Tess Schrenger led the team with 19 digs, including the 1,000th dig of her career.
• Schrenger becomes the sixth player in Tampa Volleyball history to record 1,000 career digs and 1,000 career kills.
• 6 different Spartans recorded a service ace.
• Kayla Dondero led Tampa with 23 assists.