AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University volleyball team completed the best regular season in school history on Monday night with a four-set victory over the Warner University Royals at the Rhodora J. Donahue Academy gymasium. The Gyrenes rallied from a 25-18 defeat in the first set to win the final three sets, 25-19, 25-15, 25-20 to complete the regular season with a 13-3 record.
The Gyrenes had to play from behind on Monday night, after Warner controlled the first set. The Royals logged 15 kills and a .424 hitting percentage during the opening frame, and never trailed from the first point on. A run of 8-2 for the Royals proved to be the difference, as Warner turned a 9-9 tie into a 17-11 lead, and cruised to a 25-18 victory.
In the second set, the score was tight in the early moments, with Ave Maria holding a 10-9 lead. The Gyrenes then went on a 7-2 run to open up a 17-11 lead, which would not dip back below three points. When Warner was able to cut the AMU lead to three, the Gyrenes responded with three straight points to open the lead back up to 22-16. A kill from Cabriella Bouterse on AMU's second attempt at set point evened the match at one set a piece.
Ave Maria had their best performance of the night in the third set, hitting .360 as a team while forcing the Royals into more attack errors (seven) than kills (six). The Gyrenes used a 7-0 run to open up their lead from 13-9 to 20-9, and completed the action on back-to-back kills from Madelyn Haut and Katie Grose.
AMU jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the fourth set, but Warner battled back to take a 10-9 lead and have the set tied as late as 18-18. Ave Maria then finished the set with seven of the final nine points, including another set-closing kill from Bouterse to seal the match.
Bouterse led the Gyrenes with 18 kills in the victory, while Zelie Kessler added eleven and Haut chipped in with ten. Reigning Sun Conference Setter of the Week Katie Grose narrowly missed out on a triple-double with 40 assists, ten digs, and nine kills. VIctoria Schein and Miah Pena led AMU's back line with 12 digs each, while Erica Chenard led the blocking effort with total blocks on Senior Night.
With the regular season over, the Gyrenes now prepare for The Sun Conference Tournament, which is slated to begin with a home game on Friday. Ave Maria will face either Warner, Webber, or Southeastern in the opening round of the tournament, with a win setting up another home match on Monday. The conference championship game, which will be played in the home gym of the highest remaining seed, is scheduled for next Wednesday.
