TAMPA, Fla. (Volleyball) - Florida Tech (6-18, 0-12 SSC) put up quite a fight against Tampa (19-6, 9-3 SSC) on the road Saturday, though it was not enough to knock off the 23rd-ranked team in the nation, as the Panthers fell to the Spartans 3-1 in Sunshine State Conference action.

UT took the opening set 19-25 but the Panthers rebounded with a 25-17 win in the second frame. It looked as though FIT would take a 2-1 advantage in the match as it led 21-17 in the third, but the Spartans came back with eight of the next 10 points to steal the game. Tampa then closed out the match with a 25-15 win in the fourth.

The Spartans finished the contest with 55 kills on .204 hitting to go along with 13 total blocks. The Panthers notched 41 kills but were limited to just .093 hitting and four blocks.

Heather Bowersox recorded 10 kills and six digs in the match. Olivia Hersey also tallied 10 kills to go along with three digs and three blocks. Abigael Brenke and Kiayna O'Neal collected seven and six kills, respectively.

Kiersten Rosa led all players with 35 assists in addition to 13 digs. Becca Bower added a team-high 16 digs and five assists, while Jenna Schaffer finished with 12 digs and three kills. 

Molly McAlvany paced the Spartans with a double-double on 15 kills, 12 digs and three blocks. Allee Stelogeannis notched 13 kills, nine digs and three blocks, while Misca Alexandra recorded eight kills and match-best five blocks.

Sammy Mueller dished out a team-high 27 assists to go along with nine digs. Jen Aprile notched a double-double on 19 assists and 11 digs. Logan Holanchock picked up a match-high 21 digs in addition to four assists.

Next on the slate for the Panthers is a trip to West Palm Beach, Florida on Thursday, Nov. 10, for a match against SSC provisional member, No. 11 Palm Beach Atlantic at 7 p.m. ET. Links to live coverage will be available at FloridaTechSports.com.