AVE MARIA, Fla. — The Ave Maria Volleyball team made the No. 23 team in the country sweat Saturday afternoon, taking a two sets to one lead over the New College of Florida Mighty Banyans. Unfortunately, New College took the last two sets to win the match 3-2.
New College took control of the match early, winning the first set 25-19. The big stat of the first set was no attack errors from the Mighty Banyans as they landed 12 of the 24 total attacks. The Gyrenes logged nine kills in the frame to five errors, but it wasn't enough to keep up with New College.
Ave Maria roared to life in the second set as they won 25-20. In a huge contrast to the first set, New College committed eight attack errors, giving the Gyrenes a helping hand on their way to their first point of the match. Ave Maria won six of the final seven points of the frame, clinching the set with a service ace from Caroline Myers.
The Gyrenes took the third set by the same score of 25-20, giving them a 2-1 lead in the match. The third set was the best frame yet for the Gyrenes, landing 15 kills. Ave Maria did not have any especially big runs during the frame but pieced together multiple three-point runs throughout the set. Greta Heiney landed the clinching blow, logging her seventh kill of the afternoon.
Up 2-1, the Gyrenes were riding high, but then the Mighty Banyans showed why they made their first ever appearance in the NAIA Top 25 on Wednesday. New College won the fourth set to even up the match 25-18. Both teams logged 12 kills, but the Gyrenes had almost double the amount of attack errors with nine to New College's five.
In the deciding fifth set, the Gyrenes hung with the Mighty Banyans, but were just always a few points behind. New College won three points in a row to go from tied at five to leading 8-5, and that was the difference maker. Ave Maria got within one point twice after the run but couldn't get back even with the Mighty Banyans. A service error fought off one match point for the Gyrenes, but a New College kill ended the match during the next point.
Three Gyrenes logged double-figure kills as Ave Maria passed the 50-kill mark for the fourth time this season. Kaitlyn Anderson led the team with 14 kills, followed by Malczewski at 13 and Heiney at 10. Emily Child was one kill away from joining them in the double digits club with nine.
Myers was the leading setter with 22 assists, followed closely by Maria Teixeira with 17.
Behind the service line, the Gyrenes logged 10 aces, hitting double digits for the fourth time this season. Mara Delyon led the team with five aces, which is a career-high for the sophomore. It is also tied for the third-most aces in a five-set match in program history. Myers and Ryan Getz each logged two aces and Maylis DeTar notched the tenth and final ace. The two for Myers brings her up to 99 career aces, and she looks to become only the second ever Gyrene to hit 100 in program history in the next match.
Defensively, DeTar led the team with 28 digs. Two other Gyrenes hit double figures with Getz at 19 and Delyon at 14. At the net, Child, Malczewski and Lillian Dauses all recorded two blocks.
With the loss, Ave Maria's record falls to 6-7 overall and 2-6 in conference play. The two teams behind the Gyrenes in the Sun Conference standings also lost, so Ave Maria did not lose any ground and are still holding on to sixth place, which would be the final team to clinch a spot in the conference tournament.
The Gyrenes are back home Tuesday, October 13, as they close out their four-game homestand against the Florida College Falcons. Florida College won the first meeting between the two teams in September. Tuesday is Ave Maria's Breast Cancer Awareness Match and fans in attendance are encouraged to wear pink. Opening serve is set for 7 p.m. and the match will be streamed live on the Sun Digital Network.
