WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. ---  The Ave Maria volleyball team fell in a pair of close matches on Friday as they began play at the Northwood Labor Day Volleyfest. AMU will return to the court on Saturday to take on Edward Waters and Northwood on day two of the tournament at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., respectively.
 
Match 2: Ave Maria vs. Concordia (Ala.)
 
Ave Maria jumped out to a 7-2 lead in its second match of the day against Concordia (Ala.) and continued to hold a 15-11 advantage midway into the opening set. But Concordia took nine of the next 10 points to take a 20-16 lead on the Blue and Green.  Trailing 23-19, AMU rallied to within one, 24-23, but weren't able to complete the comeback.
 
In the second set, the Lady Gyrenes again jumped out to an early lead and this time made sure not to give it up, cruising to a 25-10 game win to pull the match even at one-game apiece. AMU had a run of five and two runs of six in the second set win.
 
The third set was back-and-forth from the start with both teams going on multi-point runs to eventually leading to a 15-15 tie.  After Concordia took the next three points to take a 18-15 lead, AMU went on a 6-1 run to retake the lead 21-19. The Lady Gyrenes used that momentum to finish off the set, 25-23, to take a two game to one lead.
 
The Blue and Green led for most of the fourth set before a late rally by Concordia evened the match at two-games each.
 
Both teams fought hard in the fifth set but the Lady Gyrenes were unable to overcome several errors down the stretch, dropping the deciding set 15-13.
 
The match featured 23 ties and 11 lead changes with nine of those ties coming in the fifth set. Hannah Wurster (Conestoga, Pa.) again led AMU in kills with 22 while Marie Mendez (Orlando, Fla.) tallied 11 kills of her own. Mary Eckard (Milford, Iowa) recorded 19 digs.