LAKELAND, Ga. – The Fire showed early effects of not taking the court for two weeks early on Saturday afternoon. After shaking off the rust in splitting the opening two sets, Southeastern University rolled in the next two sets and finished strong, 3-1, over Ave Maria University in women's volleyball action this afternoon at The Furnace.
After trailing by as many as five points midway through the opening set, SEU rallied to within a point four times late, but Ave Maria netted the final two points for a 25-22 final. In set number two, it was the Gyrenes turn to bounce back after being behind by five, but the Fire's Sylvia Liszewski pounded the final point to even the match (25-23). SEU turned a 9-7 third set lead into an 18-8 advantage in the following points and raced to a 25-12 final tally. SEU continued the momentum in set four with a 6-1 opening and 12-3 lead before it ended the match at 25-15.
The SEU victory was its fifth in a row in the series with Ave Maria and made for a season sweep. The Fire improved to 13-3 overall and 7-1 in The Sun Conference, while the Gyrenes are now 3-15 and 3-6 in the league.
With a monster of a day, Cambry Pope put down 26 kills as she hit .368 with 22 digs and two blocks. Kennedy Jones also recorded an impressive double-double of 17 kills and 18 digs with an ace. Liszewski added a third double-figure hitter with 13 winners at a .500 clip.
The tandem of Haven Speer and Alexandra Postlethwaite led the offense with 31 and 28 assists, respectively, with a combined 14 digs and an ace. Marysa Connors had 17 digs on the back row with five assists and Yarelis Lopez contributed seven digs.
Chapel Cunningham recorded nine kills with a block, while Emma Reed chipped in three kills and a pair of blocks.
SEU returns to action on Tuesday night at home for a "Pink Out" breast cancer awareness game against Florida College. Match time is 7 p.m..
