AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University volleyball remained the hottest team in The Sun Conference on Wednesday night, winning their sixth consecutive match with a three-set sweep of the Warner University Royals at the Rhodora J. Donahue Academy gymnasium. The win kept Ave Maria undefeated at home this season, as the Gyrenes hold an 8-0 record in their home gym.
Ave Maria overcame a slow start to rally for a 25-21 victory in the opening set. Warner jumped out to a 15-8 lead in the first, with nine of the Royals' points coming on AMU errors (eight attack errors and a ball handling error). Warner kept their lead at 18-14 before AMU started a major rally. The Gyrenes scored six unanswered points to take a 20-18 lead, then finished the set on a 5-1 run after Warner tied the frame at 20.
The Gyrenes righted the ship in the second set, rolling to a 25-14 win, their most lopsided result of the night. Ave Maria led from start to finish in the second, scoring eight of the first nine points to build an 8-1 lead. The Royals inched back to within three, 11-8, but another run by the Gyrenes, this one of 10-2, helped AMU pull away. AMU also scored the final four points of the set, led by kills from Rita Campos and Madelyn Haut.
Much of the third set was tightly contested, with neither team able to pull away. The lead changed hands several times, and Ave Maria held a 19-16 lead late in the set. The Gyrenes then surged to put the Royals away, scoring six of the match's final seven points for a 25-17 win. The final three points all went to AMU on a Cabriella Bouterse kill, a Katie O'Donnell ace, and a kill from Campos.
After posting just a .026 attack percentage in the first set, the Gyrene attack was dominant down the stretch. Between the second and third sets, the Gyrenes had 32 kills and just two attack errors. AMU's attack percentage in the second set was .457, then improved to .519 in the clinching third set. The Gyrenes recorded a .310 attack percentage for the match, while Warner was held to just .124.
Campos led the Gyrene attack on Wednesday night, logging 15 kills with just one error, while Madelyn Haut added eleven kills. Lily Witkoski added 27 assists, and Katie Grose had eight of her own in her first appearance of the season. Defensively, Victoria Schein was Ave Maria's leader with nine digs, and Witkoski was right behind her with eight.
With the win, coupled with a Florida Memorial loss to Webber, the Gyrenes took sole possession of second place in The Sun Conference standings, just one game back of first place St. Thomas. Ave Maria can clinch a top-four seed in the conference tournament on Saturday, when the Gyrenes head to Brunswick, Georgia for a meeting with the Mariners of the College of Coastal Georgia. Opening serve is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
