LAKELAND, Fla.- The Ave Maria University volleyball team saw their historic 2019 season come to an end on Tuesday night, as the Gyrenes fell in three sets to the Southeastern University Fire in the quarterfinals of The Sun Conference Tournament. AMU's season ends with a record of 14-13, while the 21-9 Fire advance to Friday's Sun Conference semifinals against second-seeded Coastal Georgia.

A number of self-inflicted errors doomed the Gyrenes in the first set, as the Fire claimed a 25-15 victory. Southeastern's key run in the opening set came when the Fire scored eight unanswered points to extend an 11-8 lead to 19-8, allowing the hosts to cruise to the win. Ave Maria recorded a .098 hitting percentage during the opening set, the lowest of the night.

The second set saw Ave Maria put together a major rally to come within one point of evening the match. After trailing 23-18, Ave Maria ripped off six unanswered points on two kills from Madelyn Haut, one kill from McKenna Tyson, an ace from Alejandra Suarez and two Southeastern miscues. However, the Fire were able to stave off set point, and after AMU denied Southeastern's first two attempts to win the set, an ace allowed the Fire to take a 28-26 win and a 2-0 lead.

Southeastern put the match away in the third set, leading for much of the action. Another big run powered the Fire to the semifinals, as a 9-2 run turned a tight 10-8 affair into a 19-10 lead for Southeastern. A kill from Courtney Krause ended the third set at 25-16, giving the Fire the 3-0 win.

McKenna Tyson and Madelyn Haut provided much of Ave Maria's offense, combining for 26 of the team's 39 kills. Tyson led AMU with 14 kills, while Haut chipped in with 12. Haut finished the season with 261, fourth most in school history in a single season. Freshman Katie Grose logged 28 assists on the night, bringing her season total to 810, the second best mark in school history. Victoria Schein led the Gyrenes with 13 digs, moving her into fourth in school history with 319.

Ave Maria concludes the 2019 season with a school record 14 wins, a 100 percent increase on the 2018 season. The team also set program bests in conference wins (8), conference winning percentage (.500), and total winning percentage (.519).