AVE MARIA, Fla. — The No. 22 St. Thomas Bobcats had only dropped one set in the previous seven matches heading into Wednesday's match, but the Gyrenes stunned the Bobcats in the opening frame and stole a set to take an early lead. However, St. Thomas won the final three sets as the Ave Maria Volleyball team fell 25-22, 22-25, 23-25, 16-25.
The opening set was one of the most exciting frames of the season for the Gyrenes. Ave Maria jumped out to a big lead by winning the first four points of the match off three aces from Caroline Myers and an attack error from the Bobcats. St. Thomas finally scored their first tally during the fifth point of the set and slowly took the lead. The Bobcats' biggest lead in the set was six points, leading the Gyrenes 19-13 at one point.
The resilient Gyrenes did not go away though and started to chip away at the lead. After a 7-1 run with four attack errors from the Bobcats and two more aces, Ave Maria tied the frame at 20 points apiece.
The Gyrenes won five of the last seven points to clinch the opening set 25-22. The final point was secured with a big block from Elle Malczewski and Lillian Dauses at the net.
In their 11 matches this season, Ave Maria was won the opening set now nine times after Wednesday's match.
The second set was nearly identical to the first set, but the endings of the two frames differ. Again, Ave Maria took an early lead, but the Bobcats regained a sizable advantage in the middle of the set. Ave Maria climbed out of a four-point hole and the two were neck and neck for the rest of the frame. However, it was St. Thomas who pulled away in the 20s and evened up at the match at 1 with a 25-22 win.
After the two teams swapped sides, they played their most even set of the match. Neither team led by more than three points. The largest run of the set was four straight points from Ave Maria to go from down 3-1 to up 5-3. Unfortunately for the Gyrenes, It was St. Thomas who had the lead last as the Bobcats won the frame 25-23.
The final set of the match was the most lopsided as Ave Maria ran out of gas. The two teams were tight early in the frame and traded leads, but St. Thomas pulled away at the end to win the set 25-16 and clinch the match.
Malczewski was the lead attacker for the Gyrenes with nine kills. Emily Child was second on the team with seven.
Maria Teixeira was the leading setter, logging 16 assists. Myers also hit double figures, logging 12 assists.
Behind the service line, the Gyrenes tallied 12 aces, tying their season-high 12 aces against Carolina back in the Carolina Classic. Myers led the team with four, but Ryan Getz and DeAnna Barrett also logged multiple aces.
Defensively, Maylis DeTar led the team with 17 digs. Getz also hit double figures with 10 digs.
Three different players led the Gyrenes at the net as Lucy Hudson, Dauses and Malczewski all had four blocks.
With the loss, Ave Maria falls to 6-5 overall and 2-4 in conference play.
Wednesday was the start of a four-game homestand for the Gyrenes, as they play in the friendly confines of the Tom Golisano Field House from September 30 to October 13. The Gyrenes' next match is Saturday, October 3, against the Webber Warriors. Webber fell to New College Wednesday, so both teams find themselves at 2-4 in conference play heading into the match. Opening serve is set for 2 p.m. and the match will be streamed live on the Sun Digital Network.
