Ave Maria Volleyball rallied from a 20-13 first-set deficit Wednesday to defeat the Florida Memorial Lions 3-0 at home in Ave Maria. The set scores were 25-23, 25-12 and 25-18. The victory improved Ave Maria to 5-2 overall and 1-1 in conference play.
Ave Maria trailed 20-13 in the opening set before winning 12 of the next 15 points. Nine of those points came on kills, while the other three resulted from two Florida Memorial attack errors and a service error. The comeback gave Ave Maria a 1-0 lead in the match.
“We had a game plan going in and we weren’t working at it in the beginning,” said head coach John Schmidt after the match. “So, I just told them go back to the game plan. Your shots were supposed to be what we had on the game plan and I felt like we finally realized that we could trust it.”
Ave Maria closes out the sweep
Emily Child led Ave Maria with five kills in the second set, and the team recorded 15 kills in the 25-12 victory. Child finished with 11 kills, reaching double figures for the third time this season. Greta Heiney added 10 kills, reaching double figures for the first time in 2026.
Ave Maria took the first three points of the third set and led throughout the 25-18 win. Kaitlyn Anderson and Heiney each recorded four kills in the set. Heiney’s fourth kill ended the match.
Caroline Myers led Ave Maria with 19 assists, while Maria Teixeira recorded 18 assists and 11 digs for her first double-double of the season. Myers and DeAnna Barrett each had one ace. Maylis DeTar led Ave Maria with 22 digs, and Lucy Hudson led the team with four blocks.
Ave Maria hit .250 in the match, compared with Florida Memorial’s .043 hitting percentage. The victory was Ave Maria’s fifth consecutive 3-0 win against Florida Memorial dating to the 2024 season. Florida Memorial last won a set against Ave Maria on Oct. 21, 2023.
Ave Maria will host the Southeastern Fire on Saturday, Sept. 12, at 2 p.m. Southeastern was ranked 25th in the most recent NAIA Top 25 poll. The match will be streamed live on the Sun Digital Network.
Source: Original report