MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The Ave Maria Volleyball team remained undefeated in conference play Wednesday night, taking down the Florida Memorial Lions in three sets 25-21, 25-23, 25-21. All three frames were tightly contested, with Gyrenes making comebacks in the first two frames.
In the first set, Florida Memorial's largest was three points, a mark they hit multiple times. However, a 7-1 run with three service aces put the Gyrenes in front. FMU went on a run themselves to regain a one-point lead, but Ave Maria closed the frame strong to take the opening set.
The second frame saw an even larger comeback from Ave Maria as they found themselves down seven points early in the set. The Gyrenes fought back though and went on a 16-5 run to take a four-point lead. The run was started by a kill from Mara Delyon who had four in the stretch. Florida Memorial got back within a point of the Gyrenes twice in the final stages of the frame, but a kill from Greta Heiney gave the Gyrenes the set and put them up 2-0.
The Gyrenes never trailed in the final frame as they cruised to a three-set win. AMU's longest stretch of the set was 10-3 run that saw them take a seven-point lead. The closest the Lions ever got to the Gyrenes was within three points, but Ave Maria was able to hold them off. An FMU service error clinched the set and the match for the Gyrenes.
Heiney led the team with nine kills. Delyon was right behind her with seven. Both players had an efficient night on the court, connecting on over 40 percent of their total attacks. The two players had just three errors between them. For comparison, Florida Memorials' top two hitters had 10 combined errors.
Caroline Myers was the leading setter for the Gyrenes with 16 assists. She was the only one to hit double digits. Defensively, Maylis DeTar led the team with eight digs. At the net, The Gyrenes had five blocks with Emily Child contributing on three of them.
Behind the line, the Gyrenes had eight service aces. Abbey Grose, Megan Klockner and Myers each tied for the team lead at two.
With the win, Ave Maria improves to 3-6 overall and remains undefeated in Sun Conference play at 2-0. The Gyrenes are tied for first place in the conference with St. Thomas Bobcats.
Ave Maria remains on the road as they travel up to Lakeland Saturday, September 13, to take on the Southeastern Fire. SEU beat Florida Memorial to open their conference season September 6 but fell to New College on Wednesday making them 1-1. Opening serve is set for 2 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on the Sun Digital Network.
