AVE MARIA, Fla. — The Ave Maria Volleyball team won an instant classic against Warner Saturday afternoon, beating the Royals 3-2. It is only the second match this season to go five sets after the Gyrenes went the distance with William Carey in the season opener back on August 16. Ave Maria won 22-25, 26-24, 25-22, 21-25, 17-15.
Warner led for most of the opening set. The Gyrenes worked to ties in the frame but could not find a way to get ahead of the Royals after that. Their second tie was after a 4-0 run to make the score 21-21 and force Warner to call a timeout. Out of the break though, Warner won four of the next five points to win the first set 25-22.
The second set was the first of two frames that needed free volleyball to decide a winner. The beginning of the set was very back-and-forth, with nine ties on the way to a 10-10 score. In the back half of the set, Warner got out to two different three-point leads, but each time the Gyrenes fought their way back.
Tied at 18, the Gyrenes went on a 6-2 run to get within striking distance of clinching the match. However, three straight points from Warner made the score 23 all. Ell Malczewski got a kill to put Ave Maria one point away from a set win, but Warner battled back to tie the game again and force free volleyball.
It was again a Malczewski kill that got Ave Maria one point away from winning the set, and finally a Warner attack error on the next point clinched the frame for the Gyrenes.
In total, there were 17 ties in the second set.
The third set was not as volatile, with only four ties in the entire frame. Ave Maria tied the Royals at 12, and then went on a 13-9 to secure their second set of the match. Emily Child got the winning kill of the frame, spiking a ball down right at the net.
With their backs against the wall, Warner fought back and won the fourth set in similar fashion to the Gyrenes in the previous frame. The fourth set even fewer ties that the third with just three, and the last tie was 3-3. Warner went on a 22-18 run, always staying in front to win the fourth set. The Royals biggest lead of the set was five points, which was also their biggest lead of the match.
Tied at two sets apiece, the Gyrenes went to a fifth set for just the second time this season and first in conference play. Keeping with the pattern of the whole match, the two teams were neck and neck in the final set and needed free volleyball again to decide a winner. Ave Maria got out to an early advantage, leading the Royals by four points at two different instances, but the Royals climbed back and tied the set at 10.
Warner won the next two points to get up 12-10 before a Gyrene timeout. Out of the break, Ave Maria won back to back points to tie the game again. The two teams then traded points to get to 13-13.
Ave Maria made the first move to 14 and was on point away from the win, but the Royals struck back. Again, the Gyrenes scored the first point out of the tie to make it 15-14, but once more Warner scored to even it up again.
A third time Ave Maria scored the go ahead point and this one finally stuck. With the serve, the Gyrenes forced an attack error to clinch the set and the match.
It is the first time Ave Maria was won a five-set match since October 14, 2023, when they beat Coastal Georgia.
Emily Child led the team in kills with 13. DeAnna Barrett was the only other Gyrene with double-digit kills with 12 on the match. Both posted their first career double-doubles in the match with 11 and 20 digs, respectively.
Caroline Myers was the leading setter with 24 assists. She also posted a double-double, her fourth of the year, with 12 digs. Ryan Getz also reached double digits in assists with 11.
Defensively, Ines Lopes led the team with 37 digs, a career-high for her. In total, six different Gyrenes had 10+ digs for a team total of 132, the most ever in a match in program history. The previous high was 107 digs in five sets against Talladega College in 2013.
Beatriz Rissi and Lillian Dauses each tallied five total blocks. Rissi's block were all assisted while Dauses had three assisted and two solo blocks.
With the win, Ave Maria improves to 4-15 and 4-6 in conference play. The Gyrenes leap frog over the Royals and the New College of Florida Mighty Banyans to settle into fifth place in the Sun Conference standings.
The Gyrenes are home for their next two matches, starting with the Keiser Seahawks Wednesday, October 30. Keiser won the first match of the season back in September. The match is part of a tripleheader on campus, with Men's and Women's Soccer also in action the day before Halloween. Opening serve is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on the Sun Digital Network.
