MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — They only needed one, but the Ave Maria Beach Volleyball team won their final two matches of the regular season Saturday to clinch a spot in the Sun Conference Tournament. Ave Maria has now qualified for all five Sun Conference tournaments since the inaugural one in 2021. The Gyrenes started the day off with a 5-0 win over Florida Memorial and then closed out the regular season with a narrow 3-2 win over St. Thomas.
Ave Maria began the match against Florida Memorial already up 1-0 due to a forfeit in the fifth flight. The Gyrenes then won all four flights in two straight sets to get the win.
The fourth flight was the first to finish between the Gyrenes and Lions. Elle Malczewski and Greta Heiney got their eighth win as pair this season, winning 21-8, 21-6.
Ryan Getz and Emily Child were the next pair to finish for the Gyrenes, winning 21-13, 21-12. Their win in the third flight was the clinching point for Ave Maria, putting them up 3-0.
In the final two flights of the match, Beatriz Rissi and Kate Lyons got a win in the third flight 21-3, 21-7 and Adriana Bravo and Ines Lopes won the first flight 21-15, 21-10. Rissi and Lyons' win was the most dominant of the match, only giving up 10 points.
The second match of the day against St. Thomas was much tighter than the one against Florida Memorial, but the Gyrenes still found themselves on top 3-2 at the end. Three of the five flights needed a third set to determine a winner.
The match started off similarly with the Gyrenes getting a win in the fourth set from Malczewski and Heiney. The pair dropped the first set but then came back in the next two to win 15-21, 21-14, 15-9. It is their ninth win as a pair overall and they finish the regular season 8-0 as a duo in conference matches. That is the best conference record for any pair on the Gyrenes.
St. Thomas quickly tied the match at one with a win in the second flight.
Ave Maria pulled back ahead with a win in the fifth flight. After not having to play against Florida Memorial, Abbey Grose and DeAnna Barrett won their first match in the sand 21-4, 21-16. They end the season 3-0 as a pair.
However, St. Thomas tied the match again by taking the second flight. It all came down to the final flight against both team's top pair.
Bravo and Lopes dropped the first set 14-21 but came back to win the second set 21-19 to force a third and final set to decide the match. This final set was just as back-and-forth as the whole match was, but Bravo and Lopes got the win 15-13 to secure the win for the Gyrenes. It was their eight win of the season as a pair, and they finish the year 6-3 in the top flight.
With the two wins, Ave Maria's record improves to 8-9 overall and 7-5 in conference play. The Gyrenes finish tied with New College in the Sun Conference standings, but the Mighty Banyans own the tiebreaker having won the head-to-head match. So, the Gyrenes enter the conference tournament as the seventh seed.
The Sun Conference Tournament is in Gulf Shores, Alabama, this year. As the seventh seed, Ave Maria will take on the second seeded Webber Warriors. Webber won the regular season match 3-2. It is a double-elimination tournament, so the Gyrenes will play two matches. If they win, they will take on the winner of Loyola New Orleans and New College. If they lose, they will play the loser of the Loyola/New College match.
This first match of the tournament against Webber is set for April 11, at 11 a.m. CT with the second match that same day at 3 p.m. CT.
