MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. –St. Thomas University's Volleyball team (11-14, 9-7 TSC) defeated Warner University (13-14, 9-7 TSC) in straight sets (27-25, 25-21, 25-16) on Saturday afternoon from the Fernandez Family Center.

Prior to the match, the St. Thomas University Athletics Department, honored the four Volleyball seniors: Nathaly Alvarez, Courtney White, Haley Bannister, and Krista Kolbinskie in a pregame
ceremony.

STU began the match trailing WU 1-7, following two consecutive service aces by the Royals, and Coach Sam Skelton called a timeout. The break seemed to be what the Bobcats were missing, as the team rallied for five-straight points and capitalizing of four Warner errors, to bring the score to 6-8. The clubs traded points throughout the set, never being separated by more than three points. St. Thomas trailed Warner 19-22 following a WU kill, when back-to-back errors by the Royals allowed STU to come back into the match. The Bobcats recorded five consecutive points, courtesy a Carli Batsel and Kolbinskie kills, as well as a Lucia Alvarez service ace. The set was tied at 25-25 following a second STU timeout, when the Bobcats rallied for the final two points to finish off the first set victory at 27-25.

In the second set of the match, St. Thomas maintained their momentum from the first set and built a three=point lead at 10-7 off the strength of three Kolbinskie kills as well as kills by Batsel and Courtney White. STU and WU remained close throughout the second set and the score sat tied at 20-20, when the Bobcats closed out the set by winning five-of-the last-six points, highlighted by a Sophia Deaguero service ace to finish the set at 25-21.

St. Thomas took a 2-0 set lead into the third set and dominated from the beginning, as the team rushed to an 8-3 lead over the Royals, following back-to-back kills by Kolbinskie and Alvarez. STU remained aggressive on offense and strong on defense to build a ten-point lead with the score at 18-8, as Arianna Bolinger had two kills in a seven point run for the Bobcats. The senior day game finished with two kills from White and Kolbinskie as St. Thomas completed the senior day sweep.

Bobcat Leaders:
Krista Kolbinskie: 16 kills, 13 digs and three blocks
Arianna Bolinger: 12 kills, 15 digs, and three blocks
Nathaly Alvarez: 16 assists and 20 digs
Courtney White: six kills, 14 digs, and four blocks

St. Thomas will be back in action on Tuesday night as the Sun Conference tournament begins from the Fernandez Family Center in a Quarterfinal match-up against Warner University starting at 7 p.m.