MIAMI SHORES, Fla. —  The Health & Sports Center was jammed packed for the NCAA DII women's volleyball top-5 matchup between Sunshine State Conference foes no. 1 Tampa and no. 4 Barry. The battle was everything that was expected going the distance for five sets. The Buccaneers ultimately fell as Tampa remains undefeated on the year.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: #4 Barry 2, #1 Tampa 3
Records: Barry (20-4, 13-4 SSC), Tampa (24-0, 16-0 SSC)
All-Time Series: Tampa leads series 62-23

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Set One - The Buccaneers came out hot to start the match with a 6-1 lead, it was complete dominance to stun the Spartans. The trifecta got going early with Valeriya Kozlova, Veronika Eremeeva, and Varvara Osychenko all collecting a kill in the six point stretch. Eremeeva then added two service aces within the stretch. Barry hit .577 in the set with 16 kills and earned nearly every point in the set, with 20 out of 25. Six different Buccaneers collected a kill. The defense forced a .217 hitting percentage for Tampa. | Barry 25, Tampa 14
• Set Two -  Tampa took the wake up call and turned around their game play in the second set. They opened with a 6-1 start of their own. Barry worked their way back to tie things up at 13-all. A 5-0 run gave the Spartans breathing room, but the Buccaneers did not back down. Barry had a 5-0 run of their own as Eremeeva had four of those kills to flip the scoreboard and make it 23-22. On the cusp of taking a two set lead, Tampa scored three straight points to take the set. Sofya Sinkova came alive in the set with four kills on six attempts and picking up a block assists. | Tampa 25, Barry 23
• Set Three -  As both teams officially settled in, it was time for the real battle begin. The match now turned into a best of three. The set saw eight ties and three lead changes. The last tie came at 21-21, Eremeeva put the team on hre back finishing in service with two aces as Osychenko and Kozlova each picked up a kill. Barry took the set and had the Spartans on the brink of their first loss of the season. Although UT had the better hitting percentage at .545, Barry had seven more kills at 19-12 and still hit .400. It was an offensive show between both teams as Tampa did not make an attacking error and Barry earned 23 of their 25 points adding four service aces. | Barry 25, Tampa 21
• Set Four - Thee offense died down on both sides, Tampa took the first run at 4-1 and that lad held throughout the set. The Spartans forced a winner take all fifth set. | Tampa 25, Barry 19
• Set Five - It was pure cinema in the final set, Tampa scored the first point and the next 15 were just trade offs. UT scored the eighth point for the court switch and was the first team to score back to back in the set. Froom thaat point forward they carried the momentum and the Buccaneers were unable to gain any. | Tampa 15, Barry 10

NOTEWORTHY:

• Four players were in double figures for the Buccaneers.
• Kozlova led the wy with 17, Eremeeva had 16, Osychenko had 13, and Sinkova had 10. 
• Sofya Sinkova had a career-high 10 kills, while adding a block and four digs.
• Osychenko was two digs short of a double-double with eight digs, she did not commit a single attacking error hitting .542.
• Veronika Eremeeva had her fourth five-ace match this season.
• Barry falls to 1-3 in five set matches, put improves to 23-1 in third set victories.
• Gaia Riedmüller had 17 digs to lead the back row.
• Statistically, Barry won every category except digs, and dominated in service aces at 9-1.

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