MIAMI GARDENS, FLA.- St. Thomas (14-10, 11-0 TSC) stormed past crosstown rivals Florida Memorial (7-13, 4-8 TSC) on Wednesday night in straight sets (25-12, 25-13, 25-13) to continue an undefeated Sun Conference streak as the Fernandez Family Center.

The Bobcats stepped on the gas pedal and never turned back as a 3-0 win put them in great position in TSC play. In all three sets, STU held FMU to under 15 points as defense played a big role. St. Thomas has now won 33 of 39 sets in conference play with 3-set sweeps in seven of the 11 conference matches played thus far. 

Great performances came out of outside hitters Whitney Battoe and Carly Durr, and on the defensive end, the unstoppable wall that was comprised of Carli Batsel, Victoria Philpot and Courtney White.
On a night in which the team honored those battling breast cancer, 'Pink Night' had the coaches, players and fans all wearing pink in support of their loved ones.

The action began in the first set as quick runs defined the match. After going up 8-3 in the first half, the Bobcats pushed FMU to call a timeout. Shortly after that, a 7-3 run caused Florida Memorial to burn its second and final timeout as the score line read 25-6. Amongst these runs, came two brilliantly placed serves from both Veronica Gomez and Angelina Quintana that resulted in service aces.

The final score in the set read 25-12.

Set two brought another victory in favor of the Bobcats as the block show came to town. The opening play of the set had Batsel and Philpot at the net as they both earned one of their five block assists on the night. The remainder of this set provided five more blocks as the defensive powers were seen from STU. As the set reached its end, White made two amazing plays. Both came on her own as she made a thunderous solo block to bring the score to 21-11. Shortly after, she stood behind the line and served a precise serve that brought the set to a close at 25-13.

The third and final set had the Bobcats open with a 9-0 run. Despite the effort from FMU, STU never hesitated as they took this match in straight sets with a third set score of 25-13.

Notable numbers from St. Thomas came on the defensive end as freshman Philpot stood tall and blocked a match-high, six attacks. Batsel trailed closely behind her with five blocks on the night, which mended well with her five kills. White, Defensive Player of the Week (Oct. 16), registered four blocks on the night.

As a team, 20 blocks were tallied, which proved that defense can win games as well.

Kimberly Martino closed off her night with four kills, 14 digs and 26 assists, while Haley Banister recorded 14 digs. A match-high in service aces came from Gomez as she earned two.

Next up for the Bobcats is a home conference match-up against Southeastern on Friday, October 27 at 6 p.m. at the Fernandez Family Center.

Come and support and wear white as STU looks to continue the undefeated TSC streak on White Out Night.