AVE MARIA, FLA.- St. Thomas (12-10, 9-0 TSC) inch closer to The Sun Conference title with a straight set victory against Catholic rivals Ave Maria (4-15, 4-8 TSC) by a final score of (25-19, 25-17, 25-17) on a late Friday night showdown.
 
The Bobcats dominated from beginning to end, allowing the most points in a set in the first set, which had the Gyrenes score 19. The leading scorer of the match was Whitney Battoe, who earned three of her 10 kills in the opening set.
 
Runs played a very little roll in this set, but the impact of setter Kimberly Martino was evident as she recorded 13 of her match-high 33 assists in the first.
 
The headline for the Bobcats was the clear cut defense that was presented on the night as three different players registered double-digits in digs. Battoe led with a match-high 21 digs. Both Haley Bannister and Martino trailed closely with 18 and 15 digs respectively.
 
It was this late-week match that St. Thomas looked to dominate in order to close out yet another conference week atop the tables. They did just that. 
 
Sets two and three ended with identical scores as 25-17 was the final score line on both occasions, showing that St. Thomas was in the driver's seat when it mattered most, the closing sets.
 
The third set brought incredible action from freshman Victoria Philpot, as she registered four of her nine kills in the match, which included the final point for STU as the team took down AMU.
 
Notable numbers on the night came from Bobcat senior Battoe (10 kills and 21 digs), Courtney White (six kills, one service ace and two blocks), Philpot (nine kills and one block) and setting specialist Martino (three kills, 33 assists, one service ace and 15 digs).
 
An amazing match for the Bobcats as they won the second of three matches on a three-match road trip which ends against conference rivals Keiser on Wednesday, October 25.
 
This match is set to begin at 7 p.m. in West Palm Beach, Fla. as STU looks to push the undefeated streak into the final two weeks of conference play.
 
To follow live stats and video: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/keiser/. 
 
Let's Go Bobcats!