AVE MARIA, Fla. — The Ave Maria Beach Volleyball team played their final two home matches of the season, falling to both New College and Webber 3-2.
The day started with the Gyrenes taking on the Mighty Banyans in a back and forth match. Ave Maria scored the first point of the match, winning the fourth flight in two quick sets. Great Heiney and Elle Malczewski won a tight first set 21-19 and then dominated in the second set 21-6.
After New College won the second flight to tie the match, the Gyrenes got their second point of the day in the third flight. Kate Lyons and Beatriz Rissi teamed up again and got their fourth win of the season, winning 21-8, 21-15.
Unfortunately, the Gyrenes couldn't close out the Mighty Banyans as New College won the next two flights to take the match. The last flight to finish was a meeting of both teams' top pair. Adriana Bravo and Ines Lopes won the first set 21-14 but dropped the next 21-18 to force a third set to decide the match. The third set went the distance, but New College came out on top 15-13 to win 3-2.
In the final match of the day, the Gyrenes took on No. 6 Webber and fell by the same score of 3-2.
Webber won the first flight to finish, but the Gyrenes responded with a win in the fourth flight with Heiney and Malczewski getting their second win of the day. They took the flight in two straight sets, winning 21-15, 21-14.
The Warriors grabbed the next two flights to clinch the match, getting up 3-1.
The Gyrenes took the final flight of the day in the fifth flight with Abbey Grose and DeAnna Barrett getting the win. This was the only flight to go three sets, but the Gyrenes dug deep and won 21-13, 19-21, 15-11. It was just the second time Grose and Barrett teamed up this season making them 2-0 on the year as a pair.
The two losses bring the Gyrenes' record to 6-9 overall and 5-5 in conference play. The Gyrenes also wrap up their home schedule with a 5-3 record.
Ave Maria has two more road matches left on the schedule in the regular season. Saturday, April 5, the Gyrenes take a trip east to play the two teams in Miami Gardens, St. Thomas and Florida Memorial. Ave Maria needs just one win in that final weekend to clinch a spot in the Sun Conference Tournament.
