#3 Tampa Keeps Rolling, Knocks Off Florida Tech

MELBOURNE, Fla. - The University of Tampa Spartans volleyball team picked up its 13th consecutive victory on Friday night after sweeping the Florida Tech Panthers 3-0 in the Clemente Center. Tampa improves to 23-3 on the season and a Sunshine State Conference-best 12-1 while FIT drops to 10-19 and 1-13 in the SSC.

The Spartans came out firing, opening a 10-3 lead over the Panthers to start the match. FIT was able to cut the deficit to three at 19-16, but Tampa put together a 6-2 run to close the set 25-18. Melissa Vanderhall contributed with six of UT's 19 kills and Danielle Selkridge added five more on six swings.

Tampa cruised in the second frame to a 25-14 triumph, scoring the last six points to secure a 2-0 lead in the match. The Spartans relied more on their defense up front to slow down the Panthers, posting four blocks and limiting FIT to a .000 attack percentage for the game.

The final set was the most competitive of the match, featuring 14 tie scores and four lead changes as Tampa was able to pull away for a 25-20 win. Vanderhall and Kaleigh Cunningham combined for nine kills on 13 attempts with no errors to power UT to its 13th straight win.

Vanderhall led the charge for the Spartans, notching 14 kills at a .440 clip. Selkridge followed with an errorless effort, converting 10 kills on 15 swings while Cunningham finished the night with nine kills.

Senior setter Meghan Sherman set the pace for Tampa, dishing out 37 assists and putting down four kills to help her team to a .321 hitting percentage for the contest. Sherman registered her 11th double-double of the season by contributing defensively with 14 digs.

Vanderhall also tallied a double-double, her sixth, with 13 digs as libero Julie Howlett recorded a match-best 16.

Selkridge had her hand in six blocks as the team finished with 10 total blocks, limiting the Florida Tech offense to a .133 mark.

FIT's Frankie Brown shined on Senior Night for the Panthers, slamming home a team-high 13 kills on 29 attempts with no errors. Setter Hayley Tignor handed out 24 assists and libero Ashley Brant anchored the back row with 10 digs.

Since Barry dropped its match with Rollins on Friday night, the Spartans can clinch their sixth consecutive SSC title with a win over second-place Lynn on Saturday afternoon. First serve is slated for 4 p.m. and fans can follow the match on livestats provided through www.tampaspartans.com or on Twitter (twitter.com/utspartans).

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