AVE MARIA, Fla. --- The Ave Maria volleyball team defeated Florida National 3-1 in front of a big crowd on Friday night. It was the home opener for the Gyrenes who improve to 2-3 on the season.
 
Ave Maria won the opening set 28-26 despite Florida National having more kills in the set 16-12. After falling behind 7-3, AMU rallied off seven of the next eight points to take a 10-8 advantage. The back-and-forth opening set leaned Ave Maria's way in the late going. AMU had two set points before the Conquistadors won a pair of points to take a 26-25 lead. Three straight points for AMU on kills by Jenna Barnak and Kaedi Gillman followed by an attack error on FNU gave the Blue and Green the set win.
 
The Gyrenes took an early lead in set two and kept a comfortable advantage throughout the set. With AMU leading 23-17, Florida National scored four straight to pull within two but AMU won two of the next three points capped by a kill by Erica Chenard to take the set 25-22.
 
Florida National controlled most of the third set and several Ave Maria attack errors put the Gyrenes in a hole early. The Conquistadors won the set 25-16 to make it a 2-1 game.
 
In the fourth, neither team was able to break away from the other early on with the Gyrenes holding a 16-15 advantage midway through the set. Tied 17-all, a Gillman kill and ace followed by back-to-back kills by Chenard broke the set open in AMU's favor. FNU closed to within one, 22-21, before AMU closed the match with kills by Chenard and Barnak and an ace by Katie O'Donnell on match point.
 
Chenard led AMU with 10 kills followed by Gillman with nine and Barnak with seven. Laruen Ruby and Katie O'Donnell each had six kills. AMU had 44 kills on the night and hit .121 as a team. Cassie Davis tallied a team-high 17 assists while Ruby added 16 assists.
 
Daniela Jaramillo led four Gyrenes with double-digit digs with 17. Ruby had 15 while Alejandra Suarez and O'Donnell had 11 and 10, respectively. Five Gyrenes had two service aces on the night. AMU had 12 services aces as a team.
 
It's a quick turnaround for the Gyrenes as they head to Miami Gardens tomorrow to take on Florida Memorial at 2 p.m.