LAKE WALES, Fla. - The St. Thomas University Bobcats (1-5) dropped both matches in straight sets in today's doubleheader action against McPherson College (6-0) and Florida College (2-0).
 
In the morning match against McPherson College, STU found themselves trailing 1-0 after the first set and looking to bounce back to tie the match in the second. The Bobcats lost that set as well, by a score of 25-18. St. Thomas trailed McPherson by just one point following an attacking error by McPherson to bring the score to 12-11 and tried to rally but came up short as the set got away from STU.
 
The third set of the match saw the Bobcats get out to a quick lead at 8-2 with seven points coming from Courtney White, including four consecutive service aces, forcing a McPherson timeout. The Bulldogs began to chip away at the Bobcat lead and tied the match at 12-12 before claiming the lead for good as St. Thomas wound up losing the match.
 
First set leaders for the Bobcats were: Nathaly Alvarez with seven kills, Lucia Alvarez with 10 assists, and Arianna Bolinger with eight digs. The team also combined to record 12 total blocks, with Victoria Philpot leading the way with three block assists.
 
In the second match of the day for the Bobcats, St. Thomas took on the Florida College Falcons.
 
White continued to be exceptional with her serves, notching another service ace which brought her total to five on the day, early in the first set to give the Bobcats a 6-5 lead. The two teams were unable to create much separation as the set featured 10 ties between the clubs, before Florida College took the set 25-19.
 
The second set of the match, the Bobcats were behind early and attempted to rally to cut into the Falcon lead and did just that as solid defense by STU led the team to seven consecutive points to bring the game to just a four point difference at 19-15 before dropping the set at 25-18.
 
St. Thomas finished the day with a 25-17 defeat in the third set against Florida College.
 
Leading the Bobcats in the second match was Bolinger with 10 kills, L. Alvarez with 11 assists, and Carli Batsel with eight digs.
 
St. Thomas will be back in action tomorrow, September 1st at 9:30 a.m. with a match against Trinity International University with their third match of the Royals Labor Day Classic from Lake Wales.