AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University volleyball team took full control of the race for second place in The Sun Conference on Wednesday night, winning The Sun Conference Game of the Week over the St. Thomas University Bobcats. The Gyrenes earned their eleventh win of the season with a 25-13, 22-25, 25-23, 25-22 victory at the Rhodora J. Donahue Academy in Ave Maria.
The only set of the night that was not down to the wire was the opener, as Ave Maria rolled to a 25-13 win. The Gyrenes took advantage of STU miscues in the first set, as the Bobcats logged a hitting percentage of -.120. This was especially evident in a 7-0 Gyrene run that extended the AMU lead to 10-3, when all but two of the Ave Maria points came on unforced errors. The Gyrenes led by as many as 13 points en route to the first set win.
St. Thomas rallied in the second set, despite Ave Maria jumping out to an 8-4 lead. From that point, the Bobcats responded with seven unanswered points to take an 11-8 advantage. AMU would tie the match at 13, but St. Thomas took control with a 7-2 run to extend their lead to 20-15. Ave Maria got as close as two points at 24-22, but a kill from Arianna Bolinger concluded the set and evened the match at 1-1.
Ave Maria looked to be in control in the third set, as the Gyrenes built a 16-9 lead. However, the Bobcats rallied with an 8-1 run to tie the set at 17. St. Thomas would then take a 21-20 lead, but the Gyrenes responded with three straight points, going up 23-21. St. Thomas fought off the first of Ave Maria's set points, but a kill from Madelyn Haut on AMU's second opportunity sealed the set, giving the Gyrenes a chance to clinch the match in the fourth set.
In the fourth set, Ave Maria again had a big lead early on, dominating for most of the action to the tune of a 19-9 lead. St. Thomas would not go quietly, as the Bobcats scored nine of the next eleven points to cut AMU's lead to 21-18. Ave had two opportunities to clinch the match, but consecutive kills cut the AMU lead to 24-22. An attack error closed the action and sealed Ave Maria's win.
Cabriella Bouterse led the Gyrenes with 21 kills, and logged a .500 hitting percentage. Haut added 14 kills, and Zelie Kessler added eight. Reigning Sun Conference Setter of the Week Lily Witkoski had 47 assists from the setter position, and posted a double-double with ten digs. Victoria Schein led the defensive effort with 15 digs.
AMU is now in full control of second place in The Sun Conference, leading both Coastal Georgia and St. Thomas by a game in the loss column. With victories over Webber and Warner, the Gyrenes will be the two seed in the conference tournament. The next match comes against Webber on Saturday, November 7 in Ave Maria.
