No. 2 Tampa (29-3), the No. 1 seed and host of the NCAA South Regional, advances to the NCAA Championships to be held in Louisville, Ky., December 2nd-4th. UWF’s season ends with a 30-7 record overall and a 9-1 record in Gulf South Conference play. The loss ends a 15-match winning streak for UWF.
Tampa dominated set one, taking it 25-11. UWF jumped out to an early 2-1 lead on a block by Abby Timmer (Grand Rapids, Mich.) and senior Chelsea Wilhoite (Jacksonville). A kill by Danielle Selkridge gave Tampa the 7-2 lead and forced an early UWF timeout. Another Selkridge kill put Tampa up, 13-4. A kill by Jessica Yingling gave Tampa set one, 25-11. For the set, Tampa hit .440 while holding West Florida to a -.065 hitting percentage. The Spartans out-blocked the Argos, 4.0 to 1.0 in the set.
West Florida took an early 4-0 lead in set two. A kill by fifth-year senior Jamie Nichols (Crawfordville) put UWF up, 8-6. Katie Johnson, a senior from Tallahassee, had a kill to advance UWF’s lead to four, 11-7, and forced Tampa to take its first timeout of the match. Tampa rallied back and a kill by Tampa’s Kaleigh Cunningham tied the score 20-20. UWF set up set point, 24-22, on a kill by senior Kara Gonzalez (St. Augustine). A Wilhoite kill gave UWF set two, 25-23. UWF out-blocked Tampa, 5.0 to 3.0 in the set. Before losing set two to UWF, Tampa had won 26 sets in a row.
UWF and Tampa battled in set three, with the score tying 16 times. UWF took the 8-7 lead on a kill by Gonzalez. A Cunningham kill tied the set at 9-9, and Tampa never looked back. A four-point Tampa run put the Spartans up, 12-9. Later in the set, Tampa scored four more points in a row, to take the 21-14 lead. A Gonzalez kill brought the Argos within six, down 22-16. A Yingling kill gave Tampa set three, 25-18. For the set, Tampa hit .500 while holding UWF to a .258 hitting percentage.
Wilhoite had a kill to tie set four 3-3 early. Back-to-back UWF attack errors forced a UWF time out, down 13-10. UWF took back the lead when back-to-back attack errors by Tampa made the score, 16-15, UWF. A Chandler Carney (Indianapolis, Ind.) kill gave UWF a three-point advantage, 23-20. Back-to-back kills by Gonzalez gave UWF set four, 25-21, and forced a fifth set. UWF had 16 kills to Tampa’s 10 in the set.
UWF went up 2-0 in set five on a service error by Tampa’s Melissa Vanderhall and a kill by Nichols. Another Nichols kill tied the set 3-3. UWF took the two point lead on a Carney kill, 6-4. A Wilhoite kill advanced the lead to three, 8-6. A Johnson kill put UWF up, 9-6. A Vanderhall service error gave UWF the 12-9 lead. Tampa would win the next six points to take set five, 15-12, and end UWF’s season.
Twelve players from the eight teams in the NCAA South Regional were named to the all-tournament team. Barry was represented on the team by Julia Teixera. Haley Pratt and Lacy Redwine received the honor for Lynn. Sarah Mendoza and Megan Hodges from Rollins were named all-tournament. Four Spartans made the list: Sam Macks, Danielle Selkridge, Meghan Sherman and Jessica Yingling. West Florida was represented by seniors Gonzalez and Johnson and sophomore setter Tricia Tirabassi (Kenosha).
UWF made its fifth straight NCAA tournament appearance in 2010. UWF played its NCAA South Regional quarterfinals match on Thursday, defeating Gulf South Conference-foe North Alabama in a hard-fought 3-2 match. Kara Gonzalez had 10 total blocks in the match, which tied for second in the UWF record books. UWF advanced to the South Regional semifinals to face Rollins College on Friday evening. UWF defeated Rollins, which was making its first NCAA tournament appearance in five years, 3-0, to advance to face Tampa in the NCAA South Regional finals. The match marked UWF’s second appearance in the finals of the NCAA South Regional. UWF’s first appearance was in 2008, which resulted in a 3-2 loss to Nova Southeastern.
Tonight was the third time the two teams met this season. On Sept. 17th, No. 1-ranked Tampa swept UWF, 3-0, at the UNA Classic in Florence, Ala. No. 3-ranked Tampa defeated UWF, 3-1, at the South Region Crossover on Oct. 16th. UWF is now 2-5 all-time against Tampa.
For information on all UWF Athletics, visit www.GoArgos.com.
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