TAVARES, Fla.- The Ave Maria University beach volleyball team got their season off to a perfect start, winning three straight matches at the Hickory Point Beach sand volleyball complex in Tavares. The Gyrenes swept No. 8 Southeastern, 5-0, in Sun Conference play, then took back-to-back matches from Warner, winning 4-1 in Sun Conference play and 5-0 in non-conference action.

In a matchup of nationally ranked teams, the Gyrenes swept the Fire of Southeastern, winning three matches in the third set to claim the win. AMU rolled at the top of the lineup, as top-seeded duo Lily Grasso and Lily Witkoski earned a 21-6, 21-14 win over SEU's team of Grace Petty and Katie Chillura. Katie Grose and Reina Thomas also won in straight sets at the second flight, winning 21-18, 21-18 over Sylvia Liszewski and Alex Postlethwaite.

The drama came in flights three through five, all of which went to a third set. AMU's third-ranked team of Zelie Kessler and Miah Pena rallied from a first set loss, coming back for a 21-23, 21-14, 16-14 win. The fourth (Hannah Jones and Alayna Metherd) and fifth (Abbey Grose and Victoria Schein) flights both won the first set and dropped the second before claiming decisive victories in the third set. 

Ave Maria's second conference match of the day also included much of the same drama, as four of the five matches with the Warner Royals went to a third set. The lone sweep was provided by the fourth flight of Metherd and Jones, who defeated Warner's Becca Mack and Reva Godbolt, 21-15, 21-12. 

AMU took three of the four matches that went to the third set, getting victories from the teams of Grasso and Witkoski, Thomas and Katie Grose, and Pena and Kessler. All three of those teams lost the first set, then rallied to take the final two. Warner's lone point of the day was provided by the team of Deborah Powell and Lydia Coggins, who defeated Victoria Schein and Katarina McCall, 13-21, 21-19, 16-14.

Head coach Sonya Leszczynski juggled the lineup for the non-conference match against Warner, which yielded five sweeps. The top two teams remained the same, as Grasso and Witkoski won 21-14, 21-18 at the top flight, and the duo of Katie Grose and Reina Thomas picked up a dominant 21-7, 21-10 win.  

Hannah Jones and Zelie Kessler were victorious, 21-12, 21-9, at the third flight, while Alayna Metherd and Victoria Schein rolled to a 21-7, 21-15 win at the fourth position. Katarina McCall and Abbey Grose closed out the sweep with the closest of the five matches, a 21-19, 21-14 victory over Warner's lone winning team from the first match, Coggins and Powell.

Three more Sun Conference matches await the Gyrenes in the final weekend of February, when Ave Maria heads to the New Orleans area. AMU will battle host Loyola University and William Carey University on Friday, then will close out their trip Saturday against the University of Mobile. William Carey and Mobile both received votes in the most recent NAIA Coaches' Poll.