Vanderhall’s Career Night Helps Tampa Survive Eckerd

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Several career nights including Melissa Vanderhall's 27 kills helped lift the No. 7 University of Tampa Spartans volleyball team over the Eckerd College Tritons 3-2 at the McArthur Center. Tampa won by scores of 25-17, 21-25, 25-21, 24-26, 15-8 and improves to 27-2 overall and 14-1 in the Sunshine State Conference. The Tritons drop to 18-11 and 8-7 in league play.

Tampa played well on both sides of the ball to open the match, putting down 14 kills at a .303 rate while holding the Tritons to a .000 hitting percentage. Vanderhall went six-for-nine and Danielle Selkridge was perfect on four tries. Camille Hanks had her hand in three of the team's five blocks, as the Spartans rolled to a 25-17 victory.

The Spartans had their work cut out for them in the second game as Eckerd opened a 7-2 lead. Tampa went on several runs but could not bring the game closer than three as EC extended the lead to 18-11 forcing UT to take a timeout. After the break, Tampa went on a 7-3 run to bring the game to within three again, but the Tritons pulled away once more to take the set 25-21.

The third frame saw Tampa hold at least a three point lead throughout as it picked up the 25-21 victory to regain the lead 2-1. Vanderhall had the hot hand once again with a game-high seven kills and Selkridge converted four of six. After hitting only .235 in the second, the Spartans bounced back with a .389 attack percentage for the team's 18 kills.

UT took a commanding 10-2 lead in the fourth game when the home team clawed its way back with an 11-6 run that brought the score to 16-13. A Tampa timeout did not slow Eckerd down as it survived several long rallies to tie the game at 16 and eventually take the lead 19-18. With Tampa out of timeouts, the Tritons carried to momentum to a 24-21 lead when the Spartans would rally to stave off set point. The effort was for not however, as Eckerd benefited from a Tampa attack error and picked up the set 26-24 victory on a kill by Ariana Chinn.

In the decisive fifth game, the Spartans got a huge lift off the bench from Sam Macks who accounted for three blocks and a kill to help Tampa to an 8-5 lead at the halfway mark. The Spartans kept rolling as Macks added another block and two more kills to give Tampa the 15-8 triumph.

Vanderhall's 27 kills for the match came on a .386 hitting percentage, and she added 16 digs for her third double-double of the season. Kaleigh Cunningham was second on the team with 16 kills and also scooped up 16 digs for the double-double effort. Selkridge ended the night with 15 kills, good for a season high, and committed only one error to give her a .583 attack rate. Meghan Sherman was instrumental in pacing the offense, tallying a career-best 56 assists and three kills.

The Spartan defense held the Tritons to an even .200 clip as Julie Howlett also turned in a career performance with 24 digs. Tampa out-blocked Eckerd 14-7 with Hanks leading the team at five.

The Tritons had four players in double-figure kills, as Lydee Benoit had 17 followed by Taylor Whaley's 13. Chinn drove home 11 and Allegra Shaw had 10 at a .438 mark. Megan Golovkin handed out 46 assists and Hallie Ward had a team-best 22 digs.

UT will head home for its final match of the regular season, taking on Barry this Saturday at 4 p.m. UT will offer live stats through www.tampaspartans.com. Fans may visit www.tampaspartans .com and click on Multimedia to view the services. Fans may follow University of Tampa athletics on Twitter (www.twitter.com/utspartans) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/tampaspartans). UT also offers eScores, which is a free text messaging service that sends text alerts following all Spartan events.