LAKELAND, Fla. — The Ave Maria Volleyball team had a tough time generating offense Saturday afternoon as they fell to the Southeastern Fire 3-0. The Gyrenes were held to just 14 points in each of the first two sets and only 12 points in the third.
Southeastern pieced together multiple extended runs against the Gyrenes in the first set, having three runs of four or more straight points. Ave Maria's longest run of the afternoon was in the opening frame as they scored six points in a row to go from down 15-6 to just trailing by two at 15-13. Unfortunately, a service error ended the run and the Gyrenes scored just one more point in the rest of the set. Southeastern won the final eight points to take the opening frame 25-14.
The second set ended by the same score of 15-14, again in favor of the Fire. Ave Maria won the first two sets, taking a 2-0 lead with an ace from Caroline Myers. That ace was the 106
th of her career, which ties her for the most career service aces in Ave Maria history.
After the ace, it was all Southeastern. The Fire again pieced three more runs of four or more points, with the longest streak being six straight points won. Ave Maria could not keep up as the Fire took the set in decisive fashion.
The third set was the most lopsided as Ave Maria fell 25-12. The Gyrenes did it to themselves in the final frame, posting a negative hitting percentage with 10 errors to just three kills. Southeastern put together two long runs as they completed the three-set sweep.
The Gyrenes had three players tie for the most kills with Greta Heiney, Emily Child and Kaitlyn Anderson each at five kills. Myers was the leading setter with 10 assists. Her ace was also the only ace of the match for the Gyrenes.
Defensively, Maylis DeTar led the team with 12 digs, followed closely by Mara Delyon with 10.
With the loss, Ave Maria falls to 7-9 overall and 3-7 in conference play. In the Sun Conference standings, Warner also lost, so the Gyrenes hold on to their one-game lead over the Royals for the last spot in the Sun Conference Tournament with four games remaining in the conference slate.
The Gyrenes are on the road again as the close out a three-game road stand. Ave Maria will make the trek over to Hialeah to take on the Florida National Conquistadors. Ave Maria won the first meeting between the two squads on September 3. Tuesday will be the final non-conference game of the regular season for the Gyrenes. Opening serve is set for 7 p.m.
