LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Tampa lived up to its top-ranked billing with a sweep of Wheeling Jesuit in the quarterfinals of the Division II women’s volleyball championship.
The match was held at Bellarmine’s Knights Hall as part of the Division II National Championships Festival.
The Spartans will face the winner of the Arkansas-Fort Smith vs. New Haven match in Friday’s semifinals at 5:30 p.m. ET. The other semifinal at 3 p.m. pits Grand Valley State against Southwest Minnesota State.Tampa dominated at the net, with junior middle blocker Jessica Wagner connecting on 13 of 14 kill attempts, and AVCA Player of the Year Berkley Whaley adding 15 kills and 11 digs.
Tampa is the last team to have won the championship before Concordia-St. Paul went on its seven-year title run from 2007 through 2013.
Wheeling Jesuit got 10 kills apiece from Haley Kindall and Emma Schleucher, but the 32-1 Spartans were too much for the 38-4 Cardinals to overcome.
Wheeling Jesuit got to within 15-13 in the first set before the Spartans closed out the set on a 10-3 run. The second set took a similar path, with Tampa turning a 14-10 lead into a 25-15 win. In the third set, Schleucher’s kill pulled Wheeling Jesuit to within three at 23-20, but Wagner answered with a kill and a block with Whaley on match point.
