TAMPA, Fla. -- Barry pushed No. 22 Tampa to the brink Wednesday, but came up short, 25-16, 25-18, 18-25, 21-25, 16-14.

Jaeda Allen had 18 kills and 10 digs. Genesis Castillo had nine kills, 11 digs and four blocks. Ivana Didanovic had seven kills and four blocks. Brittany Reynolds had seven kills and three blocks. Jenny Trinidad had 38 asssists, 13 digs and five kills. Kristina Filimonova had six kills and six blocks. Kat Espinosa had 19 digs, Amanda Brill 10 and Ariel Mangum nine. 

The Buccaneers (14-11, 6-6 Sunshine State Conference) had eight kills and eight attack errors in the first set. Tampa (20-6, 10-3) had 13 kills and four errors. The Bucs fell behind 8-2 on Logan Holanchock's ace. A block by Castillo and Filimonova and a Tampa attack error brought Barry within one. But the Spartans opened up 19-10 lead that the Bucs could not recover from. Castillo had eight digs in the opening set.

Barry took an 11-10 lead in the second set on a block by Jenny Trinidad. That came after a block by Allen and Filimonova to knot the score at 10-10. But the Spartans went on a 10-2 run to take control. The Bucs had 11 kills and eight errors in the second set. Tampa had 14 kills and five errors.

Didanovic and Reynolds combined for a block, and a Tampa hitting error ran the Buccaneers out to a 7-3 lead in the third set. Tampa cut it to 9-7, but a kill by Reynolds left the Bucs with a three-point lead. The Spartans drew within one, but a kill by Allen started a 5-0 Barry run that put the Bucs ahead, 15-9, prompting Tampa's second timeout. Castillo's block extended Barry's lead to 17-11. The Spartans narrowed the gap to 18-14 before Castillo banged down a kill to stop the run. Espinosa's ace put the Bucs on top, 20-14. Reynolds kill made it 22-15. Filimonova's kill and a Tampa hitting error pulled the Bucs within a set, 2-1.

The Bucs hit .275 in the third set with 15 kills and four errors. The Spartans hit .143 with 11 kills and six errors.

Barry opened up a 5-1 lead in the fourth set on an ace by Filimonova. But Tampa stormed back to take a 6-5 lead on Allee Stelogeannis' kill. A block by Castillo and Filimonova tied it at 10-10. One serve later, Filimonova's solo block gave Barry an 11-10 lead. Reynolds' kill made it 12-10 before a Spartans timeout. Trinidad tapped down her second kill in three points to keep the Bucs ahead by two. Brill's kill and another by Allen pushed Barry up 16-13. A kill by Castillo and a Spartans hitting error widened the Bucs lead to 19-14. The Spartans cut the lead to three, but a block by Reynolds and another by Filimonova and Trinidad pushed Barry back ahead, 22-17. Trinidad's kill pulled the Bucs within two points of the set. But the Spartans ran off the next three points to cut it to 23-21. Allen's kill and a hitting error by the Spartans tied the match at two sets apiece.

The Bucs hit .219 in the fourth set with 13 kills and six errors. The Spartans hit .073 with 12 kills and nine errors.

Barry fell behind 4-0 in the final set before Filimonova put away a kill. The Bucs took advantage of two Spartans attack errors and a block by Didanovic and Castillo to pull within 6-5 before Tampa called timeout. A block by Reynolds and Didanovic tied it up at 7-7. Allen put down a ball to keep it tied at 8-8, but the Spartans won the next four points to go on top, 12-8. Tampa's back-to-back attack errors pulled the Bucs within 13-11, forcing a Spartans timeout. Two straight kills by Allen tied it at 13-13. The two teams traded sideouts before Tampa won the final two points to avoid the upset.

The Bucs had seven kills and five errors in the fifth set. The Spartans had eight kills and seven errors.

The Buccaneers outblocked the Spartans, 13-5. 

Barry will host Tampa 7 p.m. Friday in the final homestand of the season.