AVE MARIA, Fla. --- The Ave Maria volleyball team opened up conference play on Wednesday night at Tom Golisano Field House against the Northwood Lady Seahawks. The Lady Gyrenes took the first set but weren't able to hold off Northwood, falling 3-1. The Gyrenes travel to South Florida State College on Thursday night for an exhibition match before hosting Webber International on Saturday at 2 p.m.

AMU moves to 1-5 on the season and to 0-1 in TSC play while Northwood improves to 7-4 overall and 1-0 in conference action.

Lexy Smith (Manassas, Va.) led AMU with 13 kills to go along with one solo block and two block assists. Jessica Schein (Greenfield, Wisc.) recorded a double-double with 30 assists and 10 digs while Mary Eckard (Milford, Iowa) led the Lady Gyrenes in digs with 19.

The Blue and Green jumped out to an early lead in the first set and used that start to carry them to a 25-18 opening set win. The Lady Gyrenes hit the ball well in the opening stanza, recording 16 kills to just two errors.

In the final three sets, the Lady Gyrenes weren't able to find a solution to the Lady Seahawks tough serving game and defense at the net. Northwood totaled 11 service aces in the match and had 10 total team blocks.

Sydney Fish has 11 kills to lead Northwood. Nikki McKown and Lexi Schnapf each had 2.5 total blocks for the Lady Seahawks.