Tough schedule pays off as talented Tampa wins AVCA DII beach volleyball title again

Back in the day, the University of Tampa was legendary in sports circles as the premier “outlaw” football program in America, producing such legends as Leon “X-Ray” McQuay, Freddie Solomon, Paul Orndorff (perhaps best known as pro wrestling’s “Mr. Wonderful”) and John Matuszak, an infamous “bad boy” turned actor known as “The Tooz,” who was the first player picked in the 1973 NFL Draft.

The school has also won four NCAA Division II indoor volleyball titles, the last in 2021.

But you certainly can say Tampa is a beach volleyball school after the Spartans won the AVCA Division II Small College Championship again April 16.

It marked the program’s third national title since the program was founded in just 2018. Tampa also won in 2019 (the tourney was canceled in COVID-plagued 2020) and 2021.

A daunting schedule paid dividends this season for the Spartans (21-13), who bounced Colorado Mesa (19-8) 3-0 in the title dual at the spectacular Hickory Point Beach complex in Tavares, Florida.

Also crowned as AVCA Small College champions were Hendrix College (14-15) of Conway, Arkansas, in Division III, and Webber International University (20-5) of Babson Park, Florida, a back-to-back winner in the NAIA division.

After being battle-tested by “name” opponents such as TCU, Florida State, Grand Canyon, Georgia State, Stetson and Florida International, Tampa bounced back from a loss to Concordia-Irvine during pool play in the 14-team competition to edge Palm Beach Atlantic 3-2 in the semis and top the defending champion Mavericks in the final behind victories from its 1s, 3s and 4s pairs.

Coach Jeff Lamm has put lofty goals in front of his teams and has crafted a “destination” competition on Florida’s Gulf Coast for many of the top national programs. The three-day Tampa event in early March featured TCU, Florida State, Grand Canyon, Georgia State, Stetson and Florida Gulf Coast.

“We had one of the top fields of any tournament in the country this year at our place,” Lamm noted. “Next year we have a similar [scenario] when we are hosting three weekends and we have a lot of good teams coming in. My philosophy always has been, for several reasons, to schedule tough.

“We never talk about being Division-II, because in beach volleyball, it doesn’t actually have divisions in the NCAA tournament. Hey, we’re eligible for the NCAAs, so if we can pick up some wins against the right programs and not…