AVE MARIA, Fla. — The Ave Maria Volleyball team swept their season series with the Florida Memorial Lions with a 3-0 win on Wednesday night. The Gyrenes dominated in all facets of the game, especially behind the service line with 12 aces across the three sets.
Ave Maria put together a couple of impressive stretches in the first set, going on a 10-2 run in the beginning of the frame and a 7-0 run at the end to win the set. Kiley Lacey led the team behind the service line, recording five aces in the frame. The last three points the Gyrenes scored were all aces from Lacy, who had only recorded one ace previously in her collegiate career. Ryan Getz led the team in kills during the first set with three.
The Gyrenes started the second set just as hot, winning the eight of the first nine points. Lacy added her sixth and final ace of the evening during the run, setting a career high. Ave Maria did not have any runs longer than four straight points after the big 8-1 start but still put Florida Memorial away. Getz and Emily Child tied for the team lead in kills in the second set, each with three.
Florida Memorial led for a little bit in the third set, but the Gyrenes climbed back and went another long run to retake a commanding lead. Ave Maria recorded five more aces in the third set, two from Caroline Myers and Abby Grose and one from Greta Heiney, who also led the team in kills with three. FMU fought off one match point to make the score 24-17, but a kill from Getz secured the win for the Gyrenes.
"We had been working hard on serving more aggressive and we had a significant amount of aces so very proud of that," said head coach Tiegan McCormmick. The Gyrenes finished with a season-high 12 aces and the most in a single match since September 16, 2023, when Ave Maria recorded 13 against Coastal Georgia.
Three players all tied for the team lead in kills with Getz, Heiney and Child all finishing with seven. Caroline Myers was the leading setter for the Gyrenes, ending the match with 16 assists. That brings her career total up 997, three away from becoming the fifth Gyrene in program history to hit 1000 assists.
Defensively, Getz led the team with 12 digs. At the net, Child and Lucy Hudson tied for the team lead with three total blocks.
With the win, Ave Maria improves to 6-11 overall and 5-4 in league play. The Gyrenes are holding firmly on to fourth place in the Sun Conference standings and have a game and a half lead on the fifth place Keiser Seahawks.
Ave Maria will close out their longest homestand of the season on Saturday when they host the Southeastern Fire. The Fire are tied for first in the conference with the St. Thomas Bobcats at 8-1 in conference play. The match is part of a doubleheader on the campus of Ave Maria with Men's Soccer hosting a match as well later that night. Opening serve is set for 2 p.m. and the match will be streamed live on the Urban Edge Network.
