TAMPA, Fla. —  The most anticipated match thus far came and went as the top-5 match up between third-ranked Barry and top-ranked Tampa went the distance on Saturday afternoon at the Martinez Center. Ultimately, the Bucs fell to the Spartans in the five-set thriller and dropped just their second match of the season.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: #1 Tampa 3, #3 Barry 2
Records: Barry (16-0, 8-0 SSC), FSC (14-1, 7-1 SSC)
All-Time Series: Tampa leads series 63-22

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Set One - The Bucs tied the set at three-all and from that point on trailed the rest of the set. Tampa hit .294 in the set with 15 kills on 34 attempts. Two set errors and three service errors would gift the Spartans thir extra five points in the set. | Tampa 25, Barry 22
• Set Two - Tampa started the set with a service error that gave Barry their first lead of the match. This lead would hold through the rest of the set that tied the match up at one-all. It was a 4-0 run that opened the set up and agve the Buccaneers a much needed spark. Veronika Eremeeva delivered, as she always does, with three straight service aces to make it 8-2. Varvara Osychenko closed out the dominant set for the Bucs with the final kill. It was an even attacked between the triple-V as Eremeeva had three kills, Valeriya Kozlovaa had three and Osychenko had two. McKayla Theleus also came in and delivered three kills in the set. Baarry hit .478 in the set with just one error. | Barry 25, Tampa 13
• Set Three - Eremeeva earned the first kill of the set for yet another first point by the Bucs. Tampa answered with a kill of their own. The Bucs strung together multiple multi-point runs that led to giving themselves space on hes scoreboard. As expected, the Spartans brought themselves back into the set with a 5-0 run to make it 18-16 in favor of Barry. The teams traded off point until ultimately an attacing error landed in favor of Barry for the final point asas the Bucs took a 2-1 match lead ad were on the brink of upstting another one-seed this season. | Barry 25, Tampa 22
• Set Four - The set was dominated by the Spartans as the Bucs were held to single digit kills in the set and an .062 hitting percentage. Tampa easily took the set and sent this match to a winner-take-all. | Tampa 25, Barry 15
• Set Five - With everything on the line for the match, both teams showed up and showed out for the top-five match up. Barry earned the first point once again on a service error from the Spartans and quickly had a 3-0 advantage. It was quickly erased by a 3-0 run by UT. The Bucs held the lead for a majority of the set but late errors would prove costly as the 13-13 tie would flip into two straight points for the Spartans that ended the set and match. | Tampa 15, Barry 13

NOTEWORTHY:

• Valeriya Kozlova had her ninth straight double-digit kill performance with a match-high 21 kills. It was her sixth 20+ kill match this season.
• Veronika Eremeeva had 14 kills, notching her 11th match with double-digits. She added five service aces, tying her career-high.
• Varvara Osychenko had eight kills and 14 digs.
• Gaia Riedmüller held the back row with 21 digs and received 70 of the 86 services in the match for the Bucs.
• Thalia Iglesias anchored the offense with 31 assists for her fifth straight math at 30-plus. She was a dig short of a double-double at nine.
• It is the third 50-plus kill match for the Bucs.
• Statistically, the Bucs on led in service aces at 7-3.

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