TAMPA, Fla. – The University of Tampa volleyball team wrapped up the Courtyard by Marriott-Terrace Hotel Classic on Saturday night with a pair victories. Tampa defeated Valdosta State Univeristy  and Concordia University, St. Paul to move their record to 4-0 to start the 2019 season.

HOW IT HAPPENED GAME ONE

After a five-set battle last night, the Spartans came out swinging against the Valdosta State Blazers winning in straight sets (25-16, 25-19, 25-21). The win improves the Spartans record to 3-0. UT used a balanced game plan as they were able to hit at a .406 percentage and held VSU to a .275 percentage. Melissa Elias led the Spartans offense as she hit at a .591 percentage with 15 kills. Sammy Mueller led the way for Tampa in the first game of the day with 23 assists.

HOW IT HAPPENED GAME TWO

In a much-anticipated matchup between a pair of top-five teams, the top ranked Spartans came out on top over the fifth-ranked Golden Bears, 3-1. UT jumped out to an early lead as they took the first two sets over CSP, 25-17 and 25-22. Concordia-St. Paul bounced back in set three, winning 25-23, to force a fourth set.

In the fourth set, the two teams traded points with the Golden Bears taking an early 6-3 lead. CSP was able to hold on to the lead as they were the first to 20 points, as they led 20-16. Tampa then went on a run to pull within one with Nylah Demps recording the kill to move the game to 21-20. Following a kill by Mackenzie Dufresne, Concordia-St. Paul committed back-to-back attack errors to give Tampa the lead at 23-22. McKiel would seal the match for the Spartans as she recorded her 17^th kill of the night, giving the Spartans a 25-23 set victory.

INSIDE THE STATS

GAME ONE

• Elias finished the game with 17 assists to go along with her 15 kills.
• Demps finished the match with eight kills and Sorrel Houghton had seven.
• Claudia Rivera had a team-high eight digs.

GAME TWO

• McKiel led the way for Tampa offensively, recording 17 kills. She also had five digs for the march.
• Houghton was right behind McKiel, recording 16 kills, and had a team-high .429 hitting percentage.
• Mueller was the catalyst for UT as she dished out 34 assists.
• Nicole Dominguez had a game high 16 digs.
• As a team, Tampa recorded 58 digs, compared to 53 for Concordia-St. Paul.

 BEYOND THE BOXSCORE

• Tampa continues their perfect mark against Valdosta State, improving their record to 9-0 in the all-time series.
• UT now sits at 5-10 all time versus CSP.
• The Spartans now have a 10 game winning streak dating back to last season. 

UP NEXT

Tampa will head west to Denver, Colorado to participate in the Colorado Premier Classic. The Spartans will play two games on Friday September 13 against Texas A&M Commerce and Regis.

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