TAMPA, Fla. – No. 20 Saint Leo volleyball traveled to Tampa and swept the Spartans 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-20) inside the Bob Martinez Athletic Complex. The sweep marks the first time the Lions have defeated the Spartans 3-0 in the regular season since 2009.
 
The win marks the third straight victory for Saint Leo over Tampa where it is the fourth win in program history. Last season, the Lions swept the season series with the Spartans 3-1 at home and on the road. With the win, Saint Leo improved to 7-1, 2-1 SSC and 1-0 in conference play on the road. 
 
Freshman Ashley Quero led the Lions' charge with 13 kills on a .423 clip. Anna Garrett tallied 27 assists in the match where Reggie Van Devender led the back row with nine digs. Jenya Kruglova and Britt Sederholm tallied eight digs for the Green and Gold. Dallas Jasper recorded three blocks as Annabella Arcari and Quero both picked up two. 
 
As a team, the Lions hit .308 in the first set, .214 in the second and .256 in the third for a match clip of .252. The Green and Gold put down double-digit kills in each of the three sets with 11 in the first, and 15 in each of the final two sets. Saint Leo notched its lowest error count of the night with 26 total errors, 14 attack errors, 10 service errors, two receiving errors and zero ball handling errors.
 
Saint Leo 25-18 | The Lions jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead before a Spartan timeout. With momentum on the side of the visitors, Saint Leo climbed out to a 12-5 lead forcing the Spartans to call their second timeout. The two teams would each score 13 points for the remainder of the set where the Lions used their seven point margin to take the first set.
 
Saint Leo 25-20 | The second set opened up tight as the two teams would battle to a 12-12 tie before the Spartans went on a 3-0 run where the Lions used one of their timeouts. A Reggie Van Devender ace brought Saint Leo to within one where the Spartans called a timeout trying to halt momentum. Tampa and Saint Leo would play to a 16-16 and a 17-17 tie before the Lions opened it up by three, 20-17 and eventually went on for the 25-20 victory in the second set.
 
Saint Leo 25-20 | The Lions roared out to a quick 5-2 lead before the Spartans stormed back to tie it 10-10 in the third. Tampa would hold the lead over the next few points prior to the Lions tying it 14-14 on a Victoria Omoregie kill, moments before a service ace by Van Devender and a kill by Britt Sederholm pushed it to 16-14 and another Tampa timeout. Tampa, who came out of the timeout on a mission, tied the match and took the lead but not for long as the Lions regained the lead and never looked back going on for their 25-20 win.
 
Saint Leo remains on the road for their next three matches as they travel to Miami Shores on Sept. 29 for a matchup with Barry and then to Fort Lauderdale on Sept. 30 to take on Nova Southeastern. The Lions will return to the Bay Area to take on Eckerd on Oct. 3 before a home match on Oct. 6 against Lynn for Alumni Day.
 
The Lions will travel to Tampa Sept. 26 to make up a contest scheduled for Sept. 15 as they take on the Spartans at 7 p.m. inside the Bob Martinez Athletics Center.
 
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