CLEVELAND, Ga. — The Ave Maria Beach Volleyball team won both of their matches Friday afternoon as the Gyrenes opened their weekend at the Georgia-pod of the Sun Conference. Both wins were 5-0 sweeps as the Gyrenes took down the Brenau Tigers and the Spartanburg Methodist Pioneers.
The morning started with Ave Maria sweeping the Tigers. The Gyrenes were dominant in all five flights against Brenau, with the Tigers scoring over 12 points in just two sets.
The top flight got just one set in, but Ines Lopes and Ryan Getz won their lone set 21-11 to secure a point for the Gyrenes.
The first set of the second flight was tight as Ava Winkler and Adriana Bravo escaped with a 22-20 win. The pair commanded the second set and won 21-7 to complete the two set sweep.
The third flight featured Elle Malczewski and Greta Heiney winning in a 2-0 sweep. The first set was tightly contested as AMU won 23-21. Just like the second set though, Malczewski and Heiney came back with a vengeance and won 21-9 to win the point.
The fourth and fifth flights were the most dominant by far for the Gyrenes. In the fourth position, Beatriz Rissi and Maria Teixeira gave up just 16 combined points as they won 21-6 and 21-10.
The fifth flight gave up even fewer points with just 13 points scored over the two sets. Maylis DeTar and Abbey Grosse teamed up in the final position to win 21-7, 21-6.
After a short break, Ave Maria returned back to the sand and swept their second match of the day, this time against Spartanburg Methodist. The Pioneers played just four pairs, forfeiting the fifth position to the Gyrenes for the first point of the match.
In the four flights that did play, Ave Maria dominated again and did not lose a set.
Lopes and Getz got their second win of the day and fifth of the season, beating SMC's top pair 22-20 and 21-13.
Winkler and Bravo also got their second win of the day and fifth of the season, taking the second flight 21-11, 21-11.
Malczewski and Heiney continued to only allow single digits as they took the third flight 21-6, 21-8. With the two wins on Friday, Malczewski and Heiney now have six wins in 2026.
The final flight of the day for the Gyrenes was the most dominant of all as Rissi and Teixeira allowed just eight points. The two won 21-3, 21-5 to secure their sixth win as a pair this season.
The two match sweep bumps the Gyrenes record up to 7-0 overall and 5-0 in conference play.
Ave Maria will close out the Georgia-pod on Saturday as they take on the host Truett-McConnell. The Bears split their two games on Friday, beating Florida Memorial 5-0 but losing to St. Thomas 3-2.
The match is set to start at 11 a.m. from the TMU Beach Volleyball Complex.
