DII’s 2014 women’s Volleyball dance has ended with University of Tampa Spartans claiming the championship with an impressive 3 – 0 sweep of the Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs. The Spartans took over the top DII ranking from Concordia – St. Paul on September 15, 2014, and never looked back, winning the championship by scores of 25-14, 25-20, and 25-21over the Mustangs on Saturday, December 6, 2014, on the Bellarmine University campus in Louisville, Kentucky. A recap of the match is available: http://tampaspartans.com/article.asp?articleID=5458
In an ironic twist of fate, the finals provided both the title and vindication for Tampa, whose one loss of the season came at the hands of their finals opponent, the Mustangs of Southwest Minnesota State. This time, however, the Spartans proved to be too much for Southwest Minnesota, taking control of the match early and never letting up. Congratulations to the national champion Spartans from the University of Tampa!
THE UNIVERSITY OF TAMPA SPARTANS NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
| NAME | POSITION | HEIGHT | YEAR | HOMETOWN |
| Jen Aprile | S | 5-8 | Fr. | Tampa, Fla. |
| Meagan Burke | MB | 6-2 | Sr. | Jacksonville, Fla. |
| Leigh Buttner | OH | 5-10 | So. | St. Petersburg, Fla. |
| Caroline Clark | DS | 5-9 | Jr. | Winter Park, Fla. |
| Gina Clarke | S | 5-10 | So. | Fort Myers, Fla. |
| Megan Heffron | OH | 5-11 | Jr. | Parker, Colo. |
| Marissa Lisenbee | RS | 6-2 | Jr. | Seminole, Fla. |
| Molly McAlvany | DS/OH | 6-1 | Fr. | Roswell, Ga. |
| Jackie Neff | RS | 6-0 | Sr. | Geneva, Fla. |
| Savannah Oaks | MB | 5-10 | Fr. | Alpharetta, Ga. |
| Ana Maria Pagan | L/DS | 5-5 | So. | San Juan, P.R. |
| Kahley Patrick | S | 5-9 | Sr. | Clearwater, Fla. |
| Kasey Reynolds | L/DS | 5-4 | Fr. | Fort Myers, Fla. |
| Allee Stelogeannis | OH | 5-10 | So. | Ocala, Fla. |
| Kim Valverde | L | 5-3 | Jr. | East Hampton, N.Y. |
| Jessica Wagner | MB | 6-2 | Jr. | Cape Coral, Fla. |
| Kelsey Watts | DS | 5-6 | Fr. | Gainesville, Fla. |
| Berkley Whaley | OH | 6-0 | Jr. | St. Petersburg, Fla. |
| Demery Zachery | MB | 6-0 | So. | Brunswick, Ga. |
| Chris Catanach, Head Coach | ||||
Junior OH Berkley Whaley was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Player of the Year. Her VB stats for the season are quite impressive with 4.54 points per set, and, since the numbers never lie, it’s easy to see why she is the AVCA Player of the Year. Check out her stats posted here.
| CATEGORY | MP | SP | K | K/S | E | TA | PCT |
| Attack Statistics | 34 | 112 | 453 | 4.04 | 83 | 1014 | .365 |
| CATEGORY | MP | SP | A | A/Set | TA | PCT |
| Setting Statistics | 34 | 112 | 27 | 0.24 | 154 | .175 |
| Category | MP | SP | SA | SA/S | SE | TA | PCT |
| Serve Statistics | 34 | 112 | 22 | 0.20 | 19 | 509 | .963 |
| Category | MP | SP | RE | TA | PCT |
| Reception Statistics | 34 | 112 | 17 | 506 | .966 |
| Category | MP | SP | DIG | DIG/S |
| Digging Statistics | 34 | 112 | 316 | 2.82 |
| Category | MP | SP | BS | BA | TOTAL | BE | BLK/S |
| Blocking Statistics | 34 | 112 | 23 | 20 | 43 | 5 | 0.38 |
| Category | MP | SP | K | SA | BS | ½ BA | PTS | PTS/S |
| Points | 34 | 112 | 453 | 22 | 23 | 10 | 508 | 4.54 |
Junior RS Marissa Lisenbee and Junior MB Jessica Wagner were also named as AVCA First team All Americans. Senior Setter Kahley Patrick was selected as a Second Team AVCA All American. All in all, an outstanding year for the Spartans.
Well, we’ll have to wait until next year for any more DII action. However, as always, let’s grow Volleyball together, please.
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