NORTH MIAMI, Fla. --- The Ave Maria volleyball team defeated Johnson & Wales 3-0 on Wednesday night to improve to 3-4 in The Sun Conference action. Ave Maria is 6-8 overall. The Gyrenes host Webber on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Tom Golisano Field House.
 
Freshman Madelyn Haut led AMU with 12 kills and three block assists. Flavia Rusterholz added eight kills while Katie Grose tallied seven kills and 24 assists. Grose also finished with five block assists and eight digs. Victoria Schein led the Gyrenes with 25 digs.
 
The Gyrenes played well from start to finish, recording positive hitting percentages in all three set and finishing with a .192 hitting percentage. They had 12 kills and two errors in the opening set. AMU was also able to take advantage of several errors by the Wildcats. JWU hit .000 on the night and negative in the final two sets.
 
The Gyrenes cruised to a 25-14 first set win. Four separate runs of at least three points helped AMU build and hold a lead against Johnson & Wales. Grose had two service aces in the opening set for the Gyrenes. The first set was tied 1-1 but AMU never trailed in the set.
 
In the second set, JWU went on a 5-1 run to take an early 7-5 lead. Ave Maria responded with seven straight points on Alejandra Suarez's serve to take a 12-7 lead. Haut had two kills during the run and assisted on a block with Grose. A five point and four point runs by AMU later in the set helped the Gyrenes build a 24-14 edge. After four straight from JWU closed it to a 24-18 lead, AMU closed out the set on a kill from Haut, 25-18.
 
The third set was the most competitive set of the night. The teams exchanged two points at a time in the early part of the set leading to a tied match at 15-15. Following an AMU timeout, the Gyrenes won four straight to take a 18-14 lead. Leading 19-16, another four-point spurt put the Blue and Green ahead 22-16. The Gyrenes went on to win the set 25-19 to wrap up the match in three.