AVE MARIA, Fla. — The Ave Maria Volleyball team swept the Warner Royals in three clean sets Saturday afternoon, winning 25-18, 25-22, 25-19. The Gyrenes logged their second-most kills in a three-set match this season, converting on 43 attacks.
Before the match, Ave Maria celebrated the eight seniors on the both the Varsity and JV rosters.
The first set started with a bang as Ave Maria won the first four points of the frame. The Gyrenes got three kills and a service ace from Caroline Myers during the run.
The Royals got within a point four times throughout the set, but the best they could do was tie the Gyrenes. After any threat came from the Royals, Ave Maria was immediately back on the board to regain the lead.
Ave Maria outscored Warner 8-3 in the final 11 points to take the first set 25-18. A Warner attack error led to the clinching point, but the Gyrenes still logged 14 kills in the opening frame.
Warner took their first lead of the match in the second set and led for a little bit. Ave Maria finally seized control of the set with a 9-2 run, to go from down 8-7 to leading 16-10.
The Royals got back in the set and tied the Gyrenes two more times but could not retake the lead. Ave Maria won the final three points off three straight kills from Greta Heiney and Lilian Dauses. In total, Ave Maria had 15 kills in the second set.
Down 2-0, Warner hung with the Gyrenes a little bit in the third set, but Ave Maria was still able to pull away. Four straight points for the Gyrenes turned a one-point game into a five-point game, and that was all the space Ave Maria needed. The Gyrenes grew their lead to seven points before finally clinching the set 25-19 to win the match. Emily Child logged the final kill of the game for the Gyrenes.
Heiney led the team with 13 kills and no errors, posting a hitting percentage of .500. It is the highest hitting percentage of her career in a match with more than one attack attempt. Child also hit double figures, posting 12 kills and a hitting percentage of .360.
Myers was the leading setter with 21 assists. Megan Klockner was right behind her with 15.
Behind the line, the Gyrenes logged eight service aces. Myers led the team with 3, boosting her program record to 113 career aces. DeAnna Barrett also logged multiple service aces with two.
Defensively, Maylis DeTar led the team with 14 digs. Mara Delyon and Ryan Getz also hit double figures with 12 and 10, respectively. At the net, Dauses led the team with three total blocks.
With the win, Ave Maria improves to 9-9 overall and 4-7 in conference play. The win gives Ave Maria a two game lead over Warner in the standings for the final spot in the Sun Conference Tournament and moves the Gyrenes to just a game back of the Keiser Seahawks for a host spot in the bracket.
Ave Maria is back in action Wednesday, October 28, for their final home game of the regular season. The Gyrenes will host the Keiser Seahawks who are two spots ahead of the Gyrenes in the standings, but just a game ahead at 5-6. A win in the home finale would make the final two games of the season very interesting for the Gyrenes, seeding-wise. Opening serve is set for 7 p.m. and the match will be streamed live on the Sun Digital Network.
