AVE MARIA, Fla. — The Ave Maria Volleyball team opened their home schedule Thursday evening with an impressive 3-0 sweep of the Florida National Conquistadors. FNU never scored over 20 points in a set as the Gyrenes took care of business with a 25-16, 25-19, 25-16 win.
The first set did not exactly start according to the Gyrenes, as Florida National won 10 of the first 14 points to jump out to a 10-4 lead. The Conquistadors scored six straight points to built up the big advantage.
However, Ave Maria did not waiver. A service error from the Conquistadors ended their streak and started another one for the Gyrenes. With junior transfer Kaitlyn Anderson behind the service line, the Gyrenes won the next 12 points in a row. Ave Maria tallied four kills during the run and two more aces from Anderson. Suddenly, the Gyrenes went from trailing by six to leading by seven.
"It was just a total team effort in that moment where they really helped each other out through things," said head coach John Schmidt reflecting on the game changing run.
The Gyrenes cruised for the rest of the set to win 25-16.
In the second set, Florida National gifted the frame to the Gyrenes by committing 12 attack errors and three more service errors. That was 15 of Ave Maria's 25 points coming from Conquistador miscues. The Gyrenes only committed one attack error in return and registered seven kills as well to win 25-19.
While the third set did not feature any 13-0 runs like the first set, it was just as dominant from the Gyrenes. Ave Maria turned on the jets by the back half of the frame and led by 10 points multiple times. Florida National fought off three match points from the Gyrenes but couldn't handle an attack from freshman Ellen Mowbray who put the match away.
Thursday's home opener was in front of a raucous crowd at the Tom Golisano Field House, which hyped up the team. "We had a heck of a crowd! I don't know what it's like as a whole, but if we can do that every night, that's amazing to me and I really love what I saw," said Schmidt.
Individually, Emily Child and Anderson tied for the team lead with eight kills. Lucy Hudson was right behind them with seven.
Caroline Myers was the leading setter, logging 15 assists in the match. Maria Teixeira was next on the team with eight.
Behind the service line, the Gyrenes logged eight aces, with Myers and Anderson tying for the team lead with three.
Defensively, Maylis DeTar led the team with 16 digs. Anderson was next on the team with 13.
At the net, Lillian Dauses led the team with five total blocks. Mowbray was second on the team with four.
With the win, Ave Maria improves to 4-1 overall and 1-0 at home. The Gyrenes have now won 16 straight matches and 30 straight sets against the Conquistadors.
The Gyrenes now turn their attention to the Sun as conference play gets underway. Saturday Ave Maria will open their conference schedule with a road trip to the New College of Florida Mighty Banyans. The two teams split the season series last year with the road team winning each match. Opening serve is set for 2 p.m. and the match will be streamed live on the Sun Digital Network.
