AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University volleyball team earned their first conference victory of the 2021 season on Saturday afternoon, knocking off the Warriors of Webber International University in four sets at the Donahue Academy Gymnasium. The Gyrenes bounced back from a loss to St. Thomas University in the Sun Conference Match of the Week on Wednesday night, and dealt the Warriors a defeat in their first conference match of the season.
The first set was tightly contested early on, as Ave Maria led just 8-7 after the first 15 points of the match. From there, Ave Maria won eleven of the next 15 points, pulling away to take a 19-11 lead. Webber rolled off four straight points to cut the AMU lead to 19-15, but AMU answered with four of their own to take the lead back to eight, 23-15. Ave Maria put away the set with a kill from freshman Millie Stockard, taking the early advantage.
Webber battled back in the second set, rallying from a 16-11 Ave Maria lead to tie the frame at 20. Ave Maria had a set point in the second, up 24-23, but a kill by Nadia Reid snuffed out AMU's chances to go up 2-0. The Warriors scored again to go up 25-24, but a kill from Madelyn Haut again evened the set. On Webber's second set point in the second, the Warriors claimed the victory on an Ave Maria attack error.
With the match evened at one set a piece, the Gyrenes put together their most dominant outing in the third set, winning 25-15. Ave Maria never trailed in the third, and ended the set by scoring six of the last seven points. Abigail Costlow was the best player on the floor during that stretch, as the freshman middle blocker logged four kills in the final seven points of the set, leading the Gyrenes to a 2-1 lead entering the fourth.
In the fourth set, Webber held a lead as late as 10-9, but the Gyrenes eventually pulled away to clinch their first conference win. From that point, the Gyrenes never scored more than two points in a row, but only allowed Webber to string together consecutive points once. A kill from Costlow, which was proceeded by one from Haut, concluded matters on Saturday afternoon.
Three Gyrenes had more than a dozen digs, led by 15 each from Costlow and Rita Campos. Campos had a double-double with 11 digs, as well. Haut followed with 13 kills, and led the team with four blocks. Lily Witkoski tied a school record with 52 assists, which is also the most in school history in a four-set match. Victoria Schein was the AMU leader defensively with 19 digs, while Hannah Jones was also in double figures with eleven.
Next on the schedule for the Gyrenes is Southeastern University, who will host Ave Maria in Lakeland on Wednesday. The Fire split their matches this week, defeating Warner and falling in five sets to Keiser. Opening serve between the Fire and the Gyrenes is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
