ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Ave Maria Beach Volleyball team dropped two matches Thursday to NCAA Division II opponents Barry and Eckerd. The Gyrenes opened the day with a close loss to Barry 3-2 and then a 4-1 loss to Eckerd.
The first match of the day was very close between Ave Mara and Barry. Four of the five flights needed a third set to decide the winner. However, three of those four went the Buccaneers way for the win.
The match started with top pair Ines Lopes and Adrian Bravo sweeping the Buccaneers' top pair in two straight sets. The pair won 21-12, 21-17. It was their fourth straight win as the top pair and put the Gyrenes up 1-0.
Barry won the next three flights to clinch the match. All three went to a third a set. Reigning National Pair of the Week Ryan Getz and Emily Child were in the second flight, falling just short in the first set 22-20 and then taking the second set in a landslide winning 21-8. The third set was just as back and forth as the first but went to the Buccaneers pair who won 15-11.
Both pairs in the third and fourth flights, Kate Lyons and Beatriz Rissi and Elle Malczewski and Greta Heiney, won the first set but then dropped the next two to lose the flight.
In the fifth flight, Natalia Cassata and DeAnna Barrett also went a third set, but won theirs to give the Gyrenes the final point of the match. The Gyrenes dropped the first set but then came back in the next two to win 14-21, 21-9, 15-9.
As opposed to the first match against Barry where four of the flights went to three sets, all five flights were settled in just two sets in the match against Eckerd. Ave Maria got a point against Eckerd, doing one better than their previous match against the Tritons, but lost 4-1.
Eckerd won the first three flights to clinch the match. Lyons and Rissi were the closest of the three pairs for Ave Maria, falling 21-16, 21-18. The other two pairs were held to single digits in one of the two sets.
Ave Maria got on the board in the fourth flight with Malczewski and Heiney getting their fifth win as a pair this season. It was a tight two sets, but the Gyrenes grinded it out winning 21-19, 21-19.
Eckerd took the final flight to get up to four points in the match.
With the two losses, Ave Maria falls to 6-7 overall. Thursday were the final two out of conference matches of the season for the Gyrenes, who finish their non-conference season with a record of 1-4.
The Gyrenes are back home Saturday for their final two home matches of the season. Ave Maria will take on the New College of Florida Mighty Banyans and the No. 6 Webber Warriors. New College is just half a game behind Ave Maria in the Sun Conference standings with a 5-4 record in their inaugural season. Webber is a few games ahead of the Gyrenes at 7-2. The matches will begin at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. at the Suppa Malec Beach Volleyball Complex.
