Box Score MIAMI GARDENS, Fla.- The Ave Maria University volleyball team advanced to the Sun Conference championship match for the second year in a row, thanks to a three-set sweep of the third-seeded Florida Memorial University Lions on Friday evening on the campus of St. Thomas University. The Gyrenes will now take on the fifth-seeded Mariners of Coastal Georgia, who upset top-seeded St. Thomas in the other semifinal.

The Gyrenes led from coast-to-coast in the opening set of the semifinal, surging out to a 10-3 early on in the frame. Florida Memorial crept back into it, getting as close as 17-15 following an ace from Sammyra Albarran. Cabriella Bouterse responded with back-to-back kills, and the AMU lead never again dipped below three before an attack error secured the Gyrenes' 25-18 win in the first. 

Florida Memorial's best chance to take a set off the Gyrenes came in the second. The Lions held leads of 21-18 and 22-20 down the stretch, but a closing surge from AMU proved to be the difference. Ave Maria scored five unanswered points to finish the job, with two kills each from Rita Campos and Madelyn Haut providing the scoring. Haut's second of those kills concluded matters, putting AMU one set away from their second straight conference title game. 

Ave Maria rode the momentum from the end of the second set into the third. After the teams traded points to start the match, Ave Maria scored six unanswered points to take a 7-1 lead they would not relinquish. Florida Memorial would get back within one at 10-9, but Ave Maria would silence the FMU rally with four points in a row. The lead continued to grow from there, and a service error proved to be the clincher to send the Gyrenes to Saturday's final.

On Friday, the Gyrenes were able to force 22 attack errors from the Lions, while only making eleven themselves. Ave Maria posted an attack percentage of .250 or better in all three sets, and kept Lions' attack percentage under .150 in all three frames. When the Lions were able to clear the net, the AMU back line was usually there, as the Gyrenes racked up 66 digs to just 49 for FMU.

Three Gyrenes racked up ten or more kills, led by 14 from Cabriella Bouterse. Madelyn Haut posted a .667 attack percentage with 12 kills on 18 swings, while Rita Campos added eleven. Lily Witkoski averaged more than 12 assists per set with 37 assists, and nearly had a double-double with nine digs. Four Gyrenes had ten or more digs in the win - Victoria Schein (14), Alejandra Suarez (14), Miah Pena (13), and Hannah Jones (10).