TAMPA, Fla. – Three out of the last five matches between the Barry Buccaneers and the Tampa Spartans have now gone five sets after the Bucs dropped a heart-breaker to Tampa inside the Martinez Center. Barry led the Spartans 2-0 in sets and had multiple chances to put UT away in the fifth, ultimately losing 20-18. Barry was looking for the first regular season sweep against Tampa since 2004. Barry fell to UT 26-24, 25-21, 25-27, 25-27, 18-12.
INSIDE THE MATCHUPS:
Final: Tampa 3, Barry 3
Records: Barry (15-10, 8-6 SSC), UT (19-6, 12-2 SSC)
All-Time Series: Barry trails 18-56
SUMMARY:
- 1st set | Senior Megi Buvinic led the charge right away for Barry with seven kills and five digs.
- 2nd set | Barry used a 5-2 at the end of the set culminating with Bianca Paşca' putting a ball away to put the Spartans on their heels trailing 2-0.
- 3rd set | The Bucs led comfortably 22-15 before the Spartans mounted a 12-3 run to stay alive and force fourth set.
- 4th set | Barry went back and forth with Tampa in a set that included 14 ties and seven lead changes. Buvinic's seven kills and seven digs in the set were not enough to force a fifth for the second consecutive match against UT.
- 5th set | The Bucs squandared five match points leading to the Spartans completing their miracalous comeback at home.
NOTEWORTHY:.
- In the last three matches, Buvinic is averaging 21.6 kills per match, 4.33 kills per set with a .234 hitting percentage. Defensively, she is averaging 18 digs per match and 3.60 per set.
- The Bucs had four players with double-figure digs -- Audren Rose (22), Buvinic (20), Kristina Filimonova (18) and Pasca (18). Those were season-highs for both Filimonova and Pasca.
- After recording 82 digs against Saint Leo yesterday, Barry had the second-most digs (93) against Tampa as a team this season.
ON THE HORIZON:
The Bucs return home to the Health & Sports Center on Friday, November 8th against Embry-Riddle. First serve is at 7pm.
