AVE MARIA, Fla. (October 5, 2019) – The Webber International University women's volleyball team was swept for the second straight match in Sun Conference play, falling 3-0 (25-16, 25-22, 25-18) against Ave Maria University on Saturday.
Webber allowed Ave Maria to hit a strong .312 percent in the opening set and hit .189 percent for the match while the Warriors, conversely, failed to reach .100 percent hitting in any set. Also, the Gyrenes' 14 service aces were only two away from tying their school record for aces during a three-set match, which is 16.
The first set featured an 8-0 AMU run that brought the Gyrenes from down one to up seven at 18-11, and that was only the start of a bigger 14-1 run that made it 24-12 Ave Maria.
Late in the second set, which was the most competitive set of the match, Webber scored four unanswered points to get to within one at 21-20 and then tied it at 22-22 after a service ace by
Madelyn Glouner, but then three straight kills by the Gyrenes made it a 2-0 set advantage for AMU.
Webber trailed 11-2 early in the third set after another big 8-0 run by the Gyrenes and never got closer than four the rest of the way.
Statistically,
Laura Embry nearly recorded a double-double with 11 assists and nine digs while
Jessica Terry had six digs,
RayGene Garner had five digs and
Salla Rautiainen had six kills. Additionally, Rautiainen, Glouner and
Svenja Koenig each added three blocks as the Warriors out-blocked the Gyrenes 7-3.
The loss dropped Webber to 6-8 overall and 2-5 in The Sun Conference while Ave Maria improved to 7-8 and 4-4. It was also the fourth time in five Sun Conference defeats the Warriors have been swept this season.
Additionally, it was the first loss for Webber ever against Ave Maria after winning its previous 21 other matches with the Gyrenes. That combined with the Warriors' 3-0 defeat at Florida Memorial University back on September 21 makes two occurrences this season that Webber was swept by a team it had never lost to before.
Now, Webber will have to battle one of the best teams in The Sun Conference so far, Keiser University, in back-to-back matches at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, October 9, in Babson Park, Florida, and at 2 p.m. on Saturday, October 12, in West Palm Beach, Florida.
