BOCA RATON, Fla – The Lynn Fighting Knights are NCAA South Regional Champions after winning a five-set classic against Tampa (25-17, 16-25, 15-25, 25-19, 15-13) on Sunday evening. The Fighting Knights came back after being down two sets to one and 8-4 in the fifth set to claim the title and their first Elite Eight appearance.
 
Samantha Wolf (12 kills, 14 digs) and Fabia Stanton Gonzalez (11 kills, 12 digs) posted double-doubles while Ula Gorjup added 42 assists and seven aces in the win. Maria Cecilia Pinho scored the deciding point for Lynn with her 12^th kill of the match in the final set.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Set 1: Lynn, 25-17
- The Spartans scored the first three points of the set
- Lynn responded with four consecutive points with help from kills by Wolf and Maria Cecilia Pinho
- Isabella Gentile added an ace during a 4-0 Lynn run for an 8-6 lead
- The Fighting Knights used a 7-0 surge to take command of the set, 22-13
- Gorjup assisted three consecutive kills by Aline Olegario, Cecilia Pinho and Fabia Gonzalez Stanton during the stretch
- Olegario's kill finished the set for a 1-0 lead
Set 2: Tampa, 25-16
- Samantha Blahut stopped a 5-1 Tampa run with a kill
- The Blue and White tied the set at 6 with four straight points but the Spartans scored seven of the next eight
- Down 21-8, kills by Wolf and Cecilia Pinho and two aces by Gorjup guided a 7-0 Lynn run
- Tampa scored the final three points for a nine-point set win to even the match
Set 3: Tampa, 25-15
- Four ties and three lead changes occurred over the first nine points
- An 8-0 Tampa run gave them an 11-4 lead
- Stanton and Wolf posted kills to bring the Fighting Knights within four, 12-8
- Blahut's kill put Lynn down by seven, 22-15
- The Spartans scored three straight to take a 2-1 lead
Set 4: Lynn, 25-19
- Gorjup served four aces over a 7-0 Lynn spurt to start the set
- Cecilia Pinho's third kill of the set gave the Fighting Knights a 9-2 lead
- The Spartans rallied to cut the margin to two, 11-9
- Gentile's ace gave the Blue and White an 18-12 advantage
- Up by three, Lynn scored three consecutive points to lead 22-16
- A pair of kills by Wolf, both assisted by Gorjup, gave the Fighting Knights a set point
- Cecilia Pinho's kill pushed the match to a deciding set
Set 5: Lynn, 15-13
- Tampa jumped out to a 3-1 lead
- Olegario's kill tied the frame at three
- Down 8-4, three consecutive points brought the Blue and White to within one
- Kills by Wolf and Blahut evened the set at nine
- Blahut and Gorjup blocked a Spartan attack to tie it at 10
- Lynn went on a crucial 4-1 run on an ace by Gorjup, kill by Cecilia Pinho, ace by Wolf and kill by Stanton
- Tampa fought off two match points before Cecilia Pihno's kill clinched the championship
 
FIGHTING KNIGHT STATS:
- The Fighting Knights have a program-record 30 wins
- Cecilia Pinho and Wolf led the Fighting Knights in kills with 12
- Wolf surpassed the 400-kill mark this year and her 410 total kills are the 10^th most in a single season in program history
- Gorjup's 54 aces rank sixth all-time in a single season at Lynn
- Blahut hit .294 with seven kills
- Gentile had 19 digs and four aces
- Lynn served a season-high 12 aces
- The Fighting Knights are winners of nine in a row
 
SOUTH REGION ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM:
Samantha Wolf (Lynn)
Isabella Gentile (Lynn)
Aline Olegario (Lynn)
Ula Gorjup (Lynn)
JJ Ramirez (Tampa)
Zoey Seput (Tampa)
Nathaly Perez (Tampa)
Diana Akopova (Barry)
Varvara Osychenko (Barry)
Jordan McBride (Embry-Riddle)
Gabriela Pagan (Embry-Riddle)
Brittany Landrum (Nova Southeastern)
 
UP NEXT:
- The team will head to Sioux Falls, S.D. for a quarterfinal matchup on Thursday, Dec. 12.