SARASOTA, Fla. — The Ave Maria Volleyball team traveled up to Sarasota for the first conference game of the season Saturday but are still searching for the first win of the season after falling to the New College of Florida Mighty Banyans 3-1.

The Gyrenes won the first set of the match in dramatic fashion. After multiple long runs from both teams, Ave Maria found themselves down 24-22 and the Mighty Banyans one point away from winning the set. Ave Maria fended off the first set point with a kill from Greta Heiney, and then scored three more times to clinch the frame 26-24.

It was the first time in four matches the Gyrenes led the sets, dating back to when they had a 1-0 lead on Texas Wesleyan August 30. Unfortunately, that was the only set the Gyrenes would get Saturday afternoon.

New College rattled off the next three sets to win the match. The closest set was the third set, with the Gyrenes getting over 20 points, but lost 25-21. The other two sets finished 25-19 and 25-13.

Beatriz Rissi led the team in kills for the fourth match of the season with 12. Heiney also hit the double digit mark with 10. Caroline Myers was the leading setter for the team with 32 assists. Ines Lopes led the team defensively with 12 digs.

With the loss, the Gyrenes start conference play 0-1 and fall to 0-9 overall.

Ave Maria returns to Tom Golisano Field House for the next two matches of the season. The home stand starts Wednesday, September 11, against the Florida Memorial Lions. The opening serve is set for 7 p.m. The game can be streamed live on the Sun Digital Network.