MIAMI GARDENS, Fla.- The Ave Maria University beach volleyball team began the 2020 season this weekend, competing in three conference matches at St. Thomas University. The Gyrenes won for the first time in program history in the season opener, defeating St. Thomas 3-2. The weekend concluded with defeats against two of the top volleyball programs in the league in Southeastern and Florida Memorial.

In Ave Maria's victory over St. Thomas, wins were earned by AMU's pairs at the first, second, and fourth positions.  Alejandra Suarez and Flavia Rusterholz rolled to a 21-15, 21-15 win at the number one spot, while freshmen Katie Grose and Lily Witkoski picked up a 21-15, 21-18 win in the number two position. The most convincing victory came from the number four pair of Katie O'Donnell and Victoria Schein, who surrendered just 21 total points in a 21-12, 21-9 triumph. St. Thomas earned wins at the third and fifth positions.

Ave Maria won two matches against Florida Memorial, but came up just short of their second team win of the weekend. Grose and Witkoski won their second match with a 21-15, 21-15 win, while O'Donnell and Schein also won for the second time. O'Donnell and Schein won a competitive match at the number three spot, 21-13, 20-22, 15-13. The match was essentially decided in a three-set affair at the fourth spot, as FMU's  Alanis Santana and Francheska Rivera snuck past Pena and Goetz, 22-20, 21-23, 15-9.

Against Southeastern, the Fire won all five matches en route to a 5-0 win over the Gyrenes on Saturday. Three of those five matches went to a third set, but the Fire were able to win all three to sweep the match. The teams of Miah Pena and Mary Goetz and Madelyn Haut and McKenzie McKay both won the first set before dropping the final two. Schein and O'Donnell lost the first set, rallied to win the second, but lost a nailbiter, 16-14, to Southeastern's number four team.

The next set of matches for the Gyrenes is scheduled for March 15 in West Palm Beach. Ave Maria will face Palm Beach Atlantic and Stevenson, which will mark the team's only non-conference matches of the 2020 season.