TAMPA - Florida Southern will face off against top-ranked Tampa tonight at 7 p.m. in the second of two semifinal matches at the NCAA Division II South Regional Tournament held at the Bob Martinez Athletics Center on the campus of the University of Tampa.
The Moccasins, who are the region's No. 4 seeded team, earned a spot in Friday's South Regional semifinals for the third consecutive season and the eighth time in the last 11 years following its thrilling five-set victory Thursday over No. 5 seeded Saint Leo (29-27, 25-21, 23-25, 19-25, 15-11) in Thursday's quarterfinals. The win over Saint Leo improved the Mocs to 22-13 on the season and extended its win streak to three straight matches.
Tampa, who is the region's top-seeded team and the No. 1 ranked team in the latest AVCA Division II Coaches' Poll, earned its meeting with the Mocs after collecting a three-set win on Thursday over No. 8 seed Kentucky State (25-16, 25-10, 25-14) in Thursday's final quarterfinal match of the first round. The Spartans have won the past four South Regional titles and won its ninth consecutive Sunshine State Conference title this year after completing the regular season with a perfect 16-0 league mark for the second consecutive year.
Friday's match with Tampa will be the third this season for the Mocs against the Spartans as they fell in three sets at home to Tampa (11-25, 25-27, 27-29) on Oct. 25 and then suffered a three-set loss (10-25, 19-25, 19-25) to the Spartans in Tampa on Nov. 16.
Overall, it will be the 116th meeting all-time between the two longtime SSC rivals as Tampa holds a 63-52 edge in the series and the Spartans have won 13 straight matches, including ending the Mocs season for the second consecutive year last season in three sets in the South Regional semifinals. The Mocs have face UT 11 times previously in the NCAA Tournament, with the Spartans holding a slight 7-4 edge in those meetings. FSC's last NCAA Tournament win over UT came in 1994 when they collected a 3-1 win in the first round at Barry. Since that win, UT has won four straight matches in the postseason over the Mocs, two of which came in the regional finals in 2002 and 2007.
In addition to the the FSC-UT match, Friday's other regional semifinal will pit No. 6 seeded and 21st-ranked West Florida (27-7) going up against No. 7 seeded Rollins (23-10) at 4:30 p.m. West Florida advanced to the regional semifinal following its five-set upset win Thursday over No. 3 seeded Eckerd (25-21,25-17,9-25,23-25,15-13), while Rollins earned its spot in the regional semifinals with a five-set win over No. 2 seeded and 19th-ranked Palm Beach Atlantic (20-25, 25-18, 22-25, 26-24, 15-5).
The regional championship match is set for 7 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 7. The winner of the South Regional will advance to the NCAA Elite Eight in Cedar Falls, Iowa, on Dec. 12-14.
Click here for the NCAA Division II South Regional Tournament homepage
