Box Score MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – In the season opener for both teams, St. Thomas (1-0) defeated Doane (0-1) in straight sets (32-30, 26-24, 25-22) on Friday afternoon at the Fernandez Family Center.
 
The win came in the St. Thomas University debut for new Head Coach Christina Ludwick.
 
The first set was a thrilling affair where the Bobcats staved off several set point opportunities for the Tigers leading up to a 30-30 tie after a kill by Shanotta Bawek on an assist by Dana Nowaczyk.  With Bawek serving, STU then won back-to-back points to win the opening set 32-30.
 
In set number two, STU trailed 21-17 before reeling off a 7-0 scoring run on Nowaczyk's service.  The Tigers battled back with a 3-0 run to tie the match at 24-24. STU then reeled off consecutive points capped off by a set-winning point on Whitney Battoe's serve to take a 2-0 lead.
 
In the final set, the two teams were deadlocked at 22-22.  Battoe registered a kill and Kadeeja Griffin recorded a block setting up match point.  Battoe then took care of business with an ace to finish off the match.
 
St. Thomas returns to action on Saturday at 12 p.m. vs. Florida Memorial followed by a match at 4 p.m. vs. Rio Grande in the final day of the STU Volleyball Classic at the Fernandez Family Center.