BABSON PARK, Fla. - St. Thomas (23-8, 10-1 TSC) secured a pivotal road victory over Webber International (7-15, 3-8 TSC) to set up a possible winner-take-all showdown with the Warner Royals (16-4, 11-0 TSC).  It took the Bobcats four sets to dispatch the Warriors, winning by set scores of 25-17, 23-25, 25-20, 25-11.  

Once again, leading the way for the Bobcats was Whitney Battoe.  Battoe finished with a monster stat-line of 18 kills, nine digs, two block-assists, and one service ace.  To her right, Lenicia Tyson tore up the Webber frontline to the tune of 10 kills.  Mary Bowers came off the bench and all she did was put forth the best game of her career.  She had an impactful 10 kills on the evening.  In the middle, Cheye-Anne Savage was a force.  She notched 8 kills and two block-assists to compliment the efforts of the outside hitters.  Feeding the attackers was the tandem of Dana Nowaczyk and Kimberly Martino, who both combined for 39 assists.  Holding together the backline was Jordan Wiese.  Wiese was simply unstoppable.  She kept just about everything in play and racked up an impressive 26 digs.

The two teams were even at seven after the opening rallies of set one.  From there the Bobcats would score seven consecutive points unanswered.  Eventually their efforts built a 23-11 lead.  The Warriors would launch a 4-0 run of their own, but they eventually succumbed to the Bobcat attack, dropping set 1 by the score of 25-17.

Webber came out in the second set and matched the Bobcats point for point.  Down 12-11, the Warriors used another 4-0 scoring run to take a 15-12 lead.  The Bobcats would respond with a 4-0 run of their own to reclaim the lead.  But it was the Warriors who demonstrated more fight down the stretch, outscoring St. Thomas 10-7 to take the second set 25-23.

A different Bobcat team emerged from the brief intermission between sets.  A team whose effort resembled that of the one in the first set.  St. Thomas built a lead early and never relented.  The Warriors would close to within two, with the score being 20-18.  However, they were outscored 5-2 over the last series of exchanges.  The Bobcats took a 25-20 victory in the third frame to build a 2-1 lead, overall.

The fourth and final frame saw the Bobcats at their best.  Defensively, few balls touched the ground.  Martino kept the offense humming, serving assists left and right.  Attackers such as Tyson, Bowers, Chancie Grant, and Stacey Spalding continued to find the holes in the defense.  The combination of the superb play in all phases allowed St. Thomas to build an early lead and run away with a 25-11 victory in the fourth set.

This evening's victory keeps the Bobcats hope of hosting the Sun Conference tournament alive.  Up next is Warner (Fla.), an opponent the Bobcats certainly marked on their calendar.  The Royals swept Florida Memorial earlier tonight to keep their conference unbeaten streak intact.  The talk of the conference, they have racked up 13 straight wins over the past month.  One of those victories included a four-set win over St. Thomas.  If the Bobcats have any hopes of hosting the conference tournament for a second straight year, they will have to defeat a red-hot Warner team at their place.  First serve is set for 2 P.M. E.T., tomorrow, at the Turner Athletic Center in Lake Wales, Fla.