AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University volleyball team dropped a heartbreaker on Wednesday night, losing in five sets to the unbeaten Seahawks of Keiser University. The Gyrenes won the first set, then battled back from a 2-1 deficit to force a fifth set before Keiser finally escaped the Donahue Academy gymasium with a 16-14 victory in the final set. The loss dropped Ave Maria to 8-3 on the season, while the Seahawks moved to 9-0.

Both of the first two sets were decided by 25-23 scores, with the Gyrenes winning the first set and Keiser winning the second. Ave Maria jumped out to a 15-6 lead in the opening set, a run capped off by back-to-back aces from Erica Chenard. The Seahawks clawed their way back, and eventualy took a 23-22 lead on a kill from Amber Dilsaver. AMU then answered with three unanswered points to claim the set on three consecutive kills from Cabriella Bouterse, Chenard, and Zelie Kessler.

AMU again started fast in the second set, opening up a lead of 12-4. Keiser responded by scoring 14 of the next 20 points to even the match at 18. Ave Maria held a 23-21 lead in the latter stages of the second set, but Keiser strung together four points in a row, with the final two coming on kills from reigning Sun Conference Player of the Year Abbie Seward.

The third set was all Keiser, with the Seahawks racing out to a 10-1 lead. The Gyrenes would not get any closer than six points from that point, and Keiser rolled to a 25-14 victory. In the fourth set, the Gyrenes faced a match point from Keiser, but rallied for a 26-24 victory to force a decisive fifth set. With the match tied at 24, a kill from Bouterse and a Keiser attack error sent the match to the final first-to-15 set.

In the fifth set, Ave Maria held an early 8-5, but Keiser immediately erased it with three straight points. From that point on, neither team held a lead of more than one point until the final score. With the match tied at 14, Keiser took a 15-14 lead on a kill from Jordan Odom, then clinched the victory in the match with a kill from Dilsaver.

Bouterse led the Gyrenes with 19 kills in The Sun Conference Game of the Week, while Kessler and Madelyn Haut both pitched in with 13. Lily Witkoski posted 50 kills, while Victoria Schein had 29 digs defensively. At the net, Witkoski and Madelyn Haut were both involved in nine blocks, while Bouterse had four solo blocks in the losing effort. 

The Gyrenes, who are now in third place in The Sun Conference, will take the weekend off before returning to the court on Wednesday for a road match against the Fire of Southeastern University. Opening serve in Lakeland is scheduled for 7:00 p.m., as the Gyrenes look for a key victory to keep pace for a higher seed in November's Sun Conference Tournament.