LAKE WORTH, Fla.- The Ave Maria University beach volleyball team got the 2024 season underway on Saturday, playing a pair of non-conference matches against Palm Beach State College and Florida Southern College. The Gyrenes won three matches on the day, but couldn't earn a team victory against quality programs from the junior college and NCAA Division II levels, falling 3-2 to Palm Beach State and 4-1 to Florida Southern.

In the season opener against Palm Beach State, the Gyrenes earned victories at the second and fifth flights, both in decisive fashion. Ave Maria's win at the second flight was provided by Alayna Metherd and Ines Lopes, who rolled to a 21-13, 21-11 win. At the fifth flight, Beatriz Rissi and Abbey Grose teamed up for a straight set victory of their own, cruising to a 21-16, 21-10 triumph.

Palm Beach State won the matches at the first and fourth flights in straight sets, with the third flight proving to be the decisive match as the only one to go to a third set. AMU held a 1-0 lead in that match thanks to a 21-14 win in the first set from Hannah Jones and Anna Howard, but the Panthers rallied for wins of 21-13 and 15-11 to take the flight, as well as the match.

Ave Maria's second match of the day, against NCAA Division II Florida Southern, again saw the Gyrenes competitive. The top performance of the day came at the fourth flight, thanks to a pair of program newcomers. The duo of Ryan Getz and DeAnna Barrett earned the Gyrenes' most decisive win of the day, a 21-9, 21-8 victory over the fourth pair from Florida Southern.

However, the win at the fourth flight would be all the Gyrenes could take from the Mocs. Ave Maria did have a chance in the match, with the second and third flights both going to third sets. Florida Southern won both of those matches, however, and coupled with straight set wins at the first and fifth flights, picked up the 4-1 win over the Gyrenes.

After playing the first two matches of the season on the road, the Gyrenes will return home Saturday for the home opener. The home opener will also mark the opening of Sun Conference play for Ave Maria, who will host Warner University and Webber International University at the Suppa Malec Beach Courts. The Gyrenes will take on Warner at 11 a.m., then will finish the day against Webber, the defending SUN champions, at 1 p.m.