Box Score After returning to the AVCA Top 25 this week at No. 24, the Moccasins had to put their new ranking on the line Wednesday night at No.1-ranked Tampa and the Spartans prevailed in three sets, 25-17, 25-19, 25-19.
The Moccasins suffered their first Sunshine State Conference loss in three outings and slipped to 9-2 overall. Tampa improved to 10-2 overall, 2-0 in the SSC.
Tampa took early leads in winning the first two sets, breaking a 2-2 tie in set one and a 5-5 tie in set two. The Moccasins had the third set tied at 11-11 before Tampa broke the tie and led the rest of the way.
Anne Pietkiewicz led FSC with 10 kills and Natalie Arvizu added seven, but that wasn't enough to offset 10 kills each from Tampa's Sam Macks and Melissa Vanderhall and nine from Kaleigh Cunningham.
The Moccasins hit .158 for the match, while Tampa hit .316.
The Moccasins play the second of three straight road matches Saturday at 4 p.m. at Saint Leo and then on Monday, the Mocs play a 2 p.m. match at West Florida.
