Whitney Allen
Everything seemed to be falling into place for the University of Tampa volleyball team. UT defeated their rival and eighth-ranked Florida Southern last Friday.
The Spartans went on to defeat Rollins Saturday, giving the team a share of the Sunshine State Conference Title.
Stephanie Rivera, Margeaux Sinibaldi and Katelen Dixon were named to the Daktronics All-South Region teams.
Rivera and Sinibaldi were named to the first-team while Dixon earned second-team honors.
Now UT is set to host the NCAA South Regional Tournament, which will start on Thursday Nov. 9.
There is one big problem facing UT though as they head into the playoffs. The team is without their star player and All-American Rivera. Rivera, who became just the 12th Spartan to record 1,000 kills, will be out of action after injuring her knee against Florida Southern. Rivera’s status is considered week-to-week.
According to coach Chris Catanach, senior Tarah Marinelli will replace Rivera in the starting lineup.
“We obviously lost a lot of our depth after Stephanie went down,” said Catanach. We will try and rotate a lot of players into the position and get Tarah some rest since she is coming off of an injury.”
Despite the loss of Rivera, Catanach and the rest of the team remain confident. The Spartans will have home court advantage in the playoffs.
“Hosting the South Regional Tournament is huge for us,” said Catanach. “It was one of our goals coming into the season, and it is definitely an advantage not having to travel or have our players miss classes.”
Camila Saade, the team’s top server, believes the home crowd will be crucial for the Spartans in the playoffs.
“It is definitely an advantage getting to host the tournament,” said Saade. “The crowd was big for us in the Florida Southern game, and hopefully they will continue to come to the games.”
Saade thinks that junior Katelen Dixon will be critical for the team in the playoffs.
“Stephanie is a great player, and it’s hard losing her spirit and great attitude. But if Katelen continues to play well then we should be successful.”
UT will face Wingate University on Thursday Nov. 9. With a win the team would advance to play the winner of the Eckerd vs. Barry match, on Friday at 7 p.m.
