AVE MARIA, Fla. — The Ave Maria Beach Volleyball team hosted their first two meets of the 2025 season at the Suppa Malec Beach Volleyball Complex against the Barry Buccaneers and the Eckerd Tritons. The Gyrenes split with the two NCAA Division II teams, beating the Buccaneers 4-1 and falling to the Tritons 5-0.

In the first match of the day, the Gyrenes beat the Buccaneers, taking four of the five flights. Ave Maria won the first, second, third and fifth flights of the match. In the first flight, top pair Ines Lopes and Adriana Bravo came back after dropping the first set 24-22. The two battled back to win the next two sets 21-19 and 15-7 to secure the first point of the match for Ave Maria.

The other three flights Ave Maria won all ended in two set sweeps for the Gyrenes. In the second flight, Ryan Getz and Emily Child teamed up for their first win of the year, winning 21-11, 21-12. In the third flight, Beatriz Rissi and Greta Heiney got their second win as a pair this season, winning 21-17, 21-13. The fifth and final flight of the match also went the Gyrenes way, with Abbey Grose and Elle Malczewski winning 21-19, 21-14.

Tuesday was the first ever meeting between Ave Maria and Barry in the sand. It was also the Gyrenes' first ever win over an NCAA Division II opponent.

In between the Gyrenes' two matches, Barry and Eckerd played each other with Eckerd winning 4-1.

In the final match of the day, the Gyrenes took on Eckerd in attempt to complete the sweep over DII teams. However, the Tritons swept the Gyrenes, winning 5-0.

The third flight was by far the closest of the five, as it was the only one to go all three sets. Rissi and Lyons teamed up for their first time of the season and took the opening frame 21-19. Up 1-0, the Gyrenes couldn't close it out in the second frame with the Eckerd pair winning that 21-18. The emphasize how close the flight was, the extra set needed extra points, but it was Eckerd who came out on top, winning 16-14.

Eckerd took the other four flights in two straight sets to win 5-0.

With the split, Ave Maria's record moves to 2-5 overall and 1-1 at home.

The Gyrenes are back on the sand Friday and Saturday, March 14 and 15, for four Sun Conference matches over the two days. Friday, the Gyrenes take on St. Andrews and Truett McConnell at 9 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., respectively. Then on Saturday, Ave Maria plays Spartanburg Methodist and Brenau at 8:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Both games on Saturday are against teams in the inaugural season in the Sun Conference.