AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University volleyball team seemingly returned to form on Saturday afternoon, beating the previously 16-1 Coastal Georgia Mariners in four sets. After falling in the first set, Ave Maria was dominant for the remainder of the match, taking three straight sets to give Coastal Georgia just their second conference loss of the 2021 season.
Coastal Georgia used a late surge in the first set to take early control of the match. Neither team was able to take advantage in the early stages, with the largest lead in the first 30 points of the match being a Mariner lead of 10-7. With the set tied at 16, Coastal Georgia proceeded to go on an 8-2 run to jump out to a 24-18 lead. AMU staved off two set points, but a kill by Samantha Johnston gave the first set to the Mariners.
In the second set, the Gyrenes started to assert themselves. After seeing the set tied at four, Ave Maria won seven of the next eight points to open up an 11-5 lead. The Gyrenes never again trailed, but Coastal Georgia made it interesting down the stretch, scoring six straight points to cut a 22-14 deficit to 22-20. AMU answered with three of the last four points of the set, with a Lily Witkoski kill evening the match at one set apiece.
Ave Maria never trailed in the fourth set, scoring the first three points and building on their lead from there. The lead would grow as large as ten points, which included the final score, which was the product of three consecutive points to close the frame. Ave Maria's attack percentage increased for the third consecutive set, going from .000 in the first to .229 in the second to .282 in the third (it would again grow to .371 in the fourth and final set.)
AMU's dissection of the Mariners concluded with a dominant fourth set. Down 2-1 early, the Gyrenes scored ten unanswered points, which included three service aces from Alejandra Suarez. The set would remain firmly in Ave Maria's control, with the lead never dipping below six points. A kill from Witkoski, the second such set-closer, finished off Ave Maria's third conference win of 2021.
Cabriella Bouterse had one of her best matches of the season, logging 14 kills and an attack percentage above .300. Madelyn Haut followed with ten kills, and assisted on five blocks, while Abigail Costlow had nine kills with three block assists. Witkoski ran the offense to the tune of 40 assists, and logged a double-double with 12 digs. Miah Pena led AMU with 18 digs, while three others (Victoria Schein, Alejandra Suarez, and Hannah Jones) all had at least ten.
A match that the Gyrenes have had circled for nearly a year awaits AMU on Wednesday. The Keiser University Seahawks, who dealt AMU three of their four losses last season, including one in The Sun Conference Tournament title game, will host the Gyrenes in West Palm Beach.
