MIAMI GARDENS, FLA.- St. Thomas (10-10, 7-0 TSC) took down Sun Conference newcomers Coastal Georgia (5-10, 4-4 TSC) on Saturday afternoon at the Fernandez Family Center in five sets (23-25, 28-26, 21-25, 25-18, 15-10) to remain perfect in conference play.

The Bobcats fought to win two straight sets (four and five) to take the come-from-behind victory.

The first set opened up with Coastal Georgia taking the lead, as STU was down 7-8. A quick three points from Bobcat hitters Carly Durr twice and a sneaky attack from Kimberly Martino put St. Thomas up 11-8. The set would ultimately fall in the hands of CCG by a final score of 25-23 despite a late comeback from the Bobcats.

In set two, as seen throughout the match, STU and Coastal would trade blows until the visiting Mariners took an 18-22 lead. The Bobcats would bounce back and bring the score line to a close 21-23 deficit, which would then be shortened even more by outside hitter Whitney Battoe when she picked up one of her two blocks in the match.

After a CCG point, Battoe would yet again make an impact in this match as she exploded for a monster kill to push this set to a 24-24 tie. The very next Bobcat point would come as a laser beam by Battoe off the hitter as she picked up two of her 21 kills just in this closing run. STU would take it 28-26 to tie the match at 1-1.

The third set was dropped by St. Thomas as Coastal Georgia would pull out with a 25-21 win, although the Bobcats put up a strong fight that fell just short of a third set win.

The fourth and fifth sets truly proved to be a thrill ride as the competitive nature from both teams picked up.

Set four started with a Bobcat 4-0 run that would be the preamble to what happened in the rest of the set. STU would not only jump out to the early lead but they would push the run even further after a 7-7 tie in the match. St. Thomas would push and hold a lead but the resilience and the effort from both Martino and Carli Batsel was visible to all. With STU up 15-9, two Bobcat players would attempt two blocks in the rally as they would not let CCG get the ball over the net. The third time was the charm as they both earned a block assist and assisted in the effort to push this match to five sets. STU would take the fourth, 25-18.

The fifth and final set had St. Thomas down 6-8 to open the set, but a hasty 3-0 run would bring the lead in favor fo the home team at 9-8. Immediately after, both Durr and Batsel linked up for a block assist and would force CCG to call a timeout. STU took the lead and never looked back as the final set would end 15-10.

Notable numbers for the Bobcats came offensively from Battoe (21 kills, 14 digs and two blocks) and Durr (20 kills, one service ace and two blocks) combined for an incredible 41 kills in the match.

Martino registered 46 assists and recorded blocks on three occasions.

Defensively, a match-high four blocks came from Batsel as she stood tall and fought hard on defense.

Haley Bannister would record a team-high 15 digs, which included some crucial digs at key moments in the match.

Next up for the Bobcats is an away match-up vs. Warner in Lake Wales, Fla. on Wednesday, October 18 at 7 p.m., as STU looks to remain undefeated in The Sun Conference.

To follow live video and stats: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/warner/.

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