AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University beach volleyball team completed the regular season on a high note, sweeping the weekend at the Suppa Malec Beach Volleyball Complex with victories over Truett McConnell University and St. Andrews University on Friday. The Gyrenes dispatched both Sun Conference opponents with ease, defeating Truett-McConnell 4-1 before ending the regular season with a 5-0 sweep over St. Andrews.

AMU's Friday began against Truett McConnell, and the Gyrenes jumped out to a 2-0 lead by sweeping the first set of matches. Both AMU pairs in this opening set swept their matches, beginning at the second flight with a 21-16, 21-19 victory from Reina Thomas and Katie Grose. It was much the same story at the fourth flight, where Hannah Jones and Alayna Metherd swept with two close victories, winning 21-19, 21-19 over TMU's duo of Alana Davis and Katie Williamson.

Truett McConnell tried to make things interesting by taking two of the final three matches to three sets, but the Gyrenes were able to win one of those matches plus a sweep to claim a 4-1 win. The sweep was provided by the fifth flight team of Abbey Grose and Victoria Schein, who earned a 21-19, 21-15 victory. 

AMU's lone third set win was thanks to Miah Pena and Zelie Kessler, who picked up a 20-22, 21-16, 15-12 win. TMU's lone win came at the first flight, where the Bears' duo prevailed by a score of 21-23, 21-14, 15-8.

Only one match went to a third set in the regular season finale, a match that came in the first set of contests. AMU's second flight duo of Thomas and Katie Grose emerged with a 21-19, 18-21, 15-13 win, while the fourth flight duo of Jones and Metherd picked up their second sweep of the day, a 21-19, 22-20 victory. For both teams, the victory was their ninth of the season as a pair, the top mark on AMU's roster this season.

Ave Maria finished off the sweep with three straight set wins in the final cluster of matches. Schein and Abbey Grose remained undefeated on the season with a 21-18, 21-17 win, while Kessler and Pena rolled to a 21-13, 21-11 win. AMU's top flight duo of Lily Grasso and Lily Witkoski picked up their first win of the afternoon, beating SAU's top team of Kaleigh Moraweitz and Kyra Mckinney by a score of 21-17, 21-15

With the sweep, the Gyrenes finish the regular season with an 9-3 overall record, and an 8-2 record in Sun Conference play. The 8-2 record put the Gyrenes in a tie for second place with the University of Mobile, and AMU's win over the Rams gives the Gyrenes possession of the second seed in next week's Sun Conference Tournament. That tournament is scheduled for April 6-7 in Gulf Shores, Alabama, and will determine the SUN representative in the NAIA Tournament.