San Bernardino, California - The University of Bridgeport women's volleyball team saw its magical 2011 season come to an end on Thursday afternoon in the NCAA Division II Quarterfinals hosted by Cal State University San Bernardino, as the Purple Knights were swept by the nation's number two ranked team, the University of Tampa Spartans, 16-25, 18-25, 8-25. UB finishes its season with a 21-8 record. Tampa moves onto the national semifinals with a 33-1 record.
The first two sets were competitive with the teams being tied at 7-7 in the first set before Tampa went on a 12-3 run to take a 19-10 lead which pretty much put away the opening stanza.
In set two, UB led 9-4 forcing the Spartans to call a time out from which they went on a 9-3 run to take a 13-12 lead which they never relinquished.
With the third set 2-2, Tampa scored the next six points to take an 8-2 lead out of which they cruised to a 25-8 victory in the deciding set.
Senior Fernanda Costa (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) led Bridgeport with eight kills.
Setter Tamara Leite (Sr., Natal, Brazil) had 19 assists for the Purple Knights, and senior Carolina Lobato (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) had nine digs to lead UB.
Junior Danielle Selkridge led the Spartans with nine kills.
Tampa had a .361 attack percentage for the day; while Bridgeport struggled on offense with a -.023 attack percentage.
"We just didn't play well today, said UB head coach Leo Uzcategui. Our passion got the best of today. We had a few good moments, but Tampa is an outstanding team, and I congratulate them and wish them luck. We had a great season this year, and I'm so proud of how our ladies worked this season to take our program to a place its never been before. This group will always be remembered as the team that won our first-ever East Regional and made it to the national quarterfinals."
Provided by the Bridgeport Sports Information Department.
