BABSON PARK, Fla. (October 23, 2022) - The Webber International University women's volleyball team matched up against St. Thomas University for the first time this season inside the Sabbagh Athletic Center on Sunday afternoon. The Warriors were unable to slow down the Bobcats' offense as they were defeated 3-0 (25-21, 25-16, 25-20).

The Bobcats (15-4 overall, 10-1 SUN) showed why they are the number one team in the conference at the moment, hitting an impressive .319 percent for the match compared to the .162 percent of the Warriors (13-12, 3-7).

St. Thomas took an early 6-2 lead in the first set and slowly began to build upon that lead as the set progressed. The Warriors struggled to string scores together and multiple runs by the Bobcats saw them increase their lead to as many as nine at 22-13. An 8-2 run by the Warriors closed the gap to just three points at 24-21, but an attack error gave St. Thomas the final point it needed to take set number one.

The Bobcats were even more dominant in the second set as they hit .406 percent. Yet again taking an early lead, 8-3, before a 6-3 run extended that lead to eight points. Webber began to chip away at the lead, but trailing 15-10, allowed a 7-1 run by the Bobcats which put them firmly in the driver's seat at 22-11. From there, it was simple for St. Thomas to close out the set and take a 2-0 lead for the match.

The Warriors would not go down easily as after falling behind 5-0 early on, they fought back to within one at 6-5. The Bobcats pulled ahead again, 9-5, and again Webber battled back to within one at 12-11. With St. Thomas leading 18-15, the Warriors scored three-straight points to level the scoreline. The Bobcats responded with a 4-0 run of their own, however, and held off another comeback attempt by the Warriors to complete the sweep.

Leading the way offensively for Webber was Cintia Lorena who ended with eight kills followed closely by Bailey Sikkema with seven. Three Warriors ended the match with five kills in total including Teodora Ranitovic, Hannah McCarty, and Nadia Reid. Paysee Crow finished with a team-high 14 assists while adding five digs and Amanda Vega tallied 12 assists and seven digs for the match.

Libero Bailey Berger led the team with nine digs while Reid tied with Vega for the second most, with seven. Ranitovic led the team yet again in total blocks with five, extending her lead as the teams lead blocker so far this season with 79. She was followed by Sikemma who tallied three total blocks.

The Warriors will now get two days of rest before their next match on Wednesday, October 26 against Florida Memorial University at 7 p.m. on home court. Weber fell to the Lions in a tight five-set match on the road earlier this season.