AVE MARIA, Fla. --- Ave Maria volleyball opens the 2019 season on Friday, August 30 at 2 p.m. against Faulkner in the Bryan Bash Invitational hosted by Bryan College in Dayton, Tenn. AMU takes on host Bryan later in the day before playing both teams a second time on Saturday.
 
Second year head coach Sonya Leszczynski will lead the AMU volleyball program into its 12th season as a program. In her first season with AMU, the Gyrenes went 7-15 overall and set program marks for digs in a season.
 
The returning roster for the Gyrenes includes 2018 kills and blocks leader Jenna Barnak. Barnak finished with 157 kills and 39 total blocks (14 solo, 27 assist). Sophomore Katie O'Donnell returns after tallying 138 kills (second on the team) and 210 digs (fourth on the team, most among returners) in her freshman campaign. Ave Maria will also welcome back Erica Chenard, coming off an injury in 2018, who recorded 165 kills and 23 total blocks in 2017.
 
In total, twelve newcomers will appear on the 2019 roster including transfers McKenna Tyson and Flavia Rusterholz from Indian River State College. Tyson had 169 kills, 21 total blocks, and 21 service aces last season for IRSC over 28 matches and earned NJCAA Region 8 All-Southern Conference Second-Team.
 
The incoming freshman class includes student-athletes from five different states (Colorado, Florida, Michigan, New York, and Wisconsin) and Belgium. In total, the 2019 AMU volleyball team has Gyrenes from seven states (Illinois and Kentucky) and five counties (Belgium, Canada, Puerto Rico, Switzerland, and United States).
 
Following this weekend's play, the Gyrenes return to Florida to take on Florida National on September 6 in Hialeah. The Blue and Green play their first home contest on September 9, when they host Palm Beach State College in an exhibition match. Ave Maria also has non-conference matches against South Florida State, Florida College, and Trinity (Fla.).
 
The Gyrenes open their Sun Conference slate on September 11 when they host Keiser. Four of the Gyrenes first six conference games will be at Tom Golisano Field House. AMU will play all eight conference teams twice.
 
Ave Maria hosts Johnson & Wales on November 6 in their home finale. AMU concludes the regular season on Saturday, November 9, when they travel to Babson Park to take on Webber.
 
All home matches will be broadcast live on Ave Maria's Stretch Internet portal, while road matches will be subject to the broadcast policies of the host school.