AVE MARIA, Fla. – St. Thomas (20-7, 11-1 TSC) defeated Ave Maria (4-19, 2-10 TSC) in straight sets 25-15, 25-21, 25-21 to remain in first place in The Sun Conference with two matches to play in the regular season.  The Bobcats were led by sophomore setter Dana Nowaczyk who assisted on 33 of STU's 40 kills.
 
Freshmen Whitney Battoe and Brianna Willhite led the St. Thomas attack with eight kills each, while junior Samantha Garza registered seven kills to go along with two service aces.  Defensively, Willhite led all players with four blocks while libero Sydney Maynard had a team-high 17 digs.
 
On Friday night, the Bobcats won in straight sets as well with a 26-24, 25-19, 25-19 road win at Northwood.  In the win at Northwood, the Bobcats were led statistically by Carly Durr (11 kills, 7 digs), Willhite (11 kills), Nowaczyk (41 assists, 9 digs), and Maynard (20 digs).
 
St. Thomas will conclude its regular season with a pair of conference games at Warner and at Webber International next weekend.  If the Bobcats win out, they will clinch the regular season Sun Conference championship and host the conference tournament, Nov. 14-15 at the Fernandez Family Center.