CLEVELAND, Ga.- The Ave Maria University beach volleyball team put the finishing touches on an 11-1 regular season on Saturday, sweeping their final two regular season matches on the campus of Truett McConnell University in Georgia. The Gyrenes took a non-conference match from the Bobcats of St. Thomas University, 5-0, then completed an 8-1 record in Sun Conference play with another 5-0 win over the Truett McConnell Bears.

The Gyrenes dropped just one set in the five matches against St. Thomas, rolling to their second win of the season over the Bobcats. Alejandra Suarez and Lily Witkoski cruised at the number one spot, winning 21-13, 21-13 over the top team from STU. Miah Pena and Cabriella Bouterse added a win in straight sets of their own, a 21-18, 21-13 triumph at the number two position. 

Victoria Schein and Lily Grasso continued the dominance with a 21-15, 21-14 win over STU's number three team, Theresa Keegan and Kelly Rosario. The lone match to go into a third set came at the fourth position, between Zelie Kessler and Katie Grose of Ave Maria and Ivana Jiron and Mia Thomas of St. Thomas. The AMU duo dropped the opening set, but rallied for wins of 24-22 and 15-13 to claim the victory. Hannah Jones and Reina Thomas finished off the sweep with a 21-17, 21-13 win at the number five spot.

Ave Maria's win over Truett McConnell was even more dominant, as the Gyrenes claimed five sweeps, including some program history at the number one spot. With a 21-9, 21-13 win at the number one spot, Suarez and Witkoski finished off a 12-0 record in the regular season. The duo became the only pair to go undefeated at the number one spot in conference play this season. 

Pena and Bouterse's win at the number two spot was the closest of the five matches, a 21-16, 21-14 victory. Grose and Kessler rolled to a 21-9, 21-12 win at the number three spot, the most lopsided of the five matches. Grasso and Schein dominated their match as well with a 21-9, 21-18 triumph, while Jones and Grace Carson rounded out the victories with a 21-17, 21-9 victory over TMU's number five team. 

AMU will enter next week's conference tournament, which will be held on home sand, as the number two seed. The Gyrenes get a bye into the semifinals on Saturday, and will play the winner of Friday's quarterfinal match between third-seeded Southeastern and sixth-seeded St. Andrews. No. 1 Webber, No. 4 William Carey, and No. 5 Mobile are on the other side of the bracket, with the championship match scheduled for 1:00 pm Saturday.