WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (August 16^th, 2019) – The St. Thomas University Bobcats Volleyball team (x-x) completed play in the Keiser University Invitational, presented by Jersey Mike's, in the Countess de Hoernle Student Life Center on Friday.
STU lost the first match to (RV) Madonna in four sets (25-23, 23-25, 11-25, 12-25), bounced back with a straight sets sweep over Columbia International University (25-17, 25-15, 25-22) and finished the tri-match with a victory over the St. Louis College of Pharmacy (26-24, 19-25, 27-25, 25-18)

Match One – St. Thomas (0-2) vs (RV) Madonna (1-0)
Bobcat Starters: Kendall Brock, Tyran Chenault, Arianna Bolinger, Amanda Allende, Kyleigh Beecham, Taytumn Schlegel – Ridgway and Dani Femat (Libero)

Game Notes

• St. Thomas opened the match with a 3-1 advantage over Madonna, as Bolinger and Chenault each registered a kill, to start the match.
• STU built a five-point advantage, 8-3, following a Brock kill, Bolinger service ace and a Crusader error.
• MU cut the Bobcat lead to two points, 12-10, before Bolinger recorded consecutive kills to extend the lead to 14-10.
• The Crusaders recorded eight-of-ten points, taking a 22-19 lead over STU, forcing Coach Sam Skelton to use a timeout to slow momentum.
• The brief pause was effective, as St. Thomas finished the first set with five-of-the-last-six points to seal the victory.
  • Carli Batsel and Bolinger each recorded two points and Brock added a kill.
• In the second set, St. Thomas opened a 3-0 advantage. Chenault, Beecham and Karla Delgado each recorded a point.
• Madonna rallied to tie the set at 5-5, before the two clubs either tied or exchanged the lead eight times, to make the score 16-15.
• STU continued to battle and looked to claim a second set victory over MU, however, the rally fell short and the Bobcats lost 23-25.
• St. Thomas could not establish momentum in the third set, never holding a lead before dropping the contest 11-25.
• The fourth set, unfortunately, was a continuation of the third for St. Thomas. The Bobcats fell behind 2-11 before calling a timeout.
• STU cut the deficit to seven, 5-12, following a Sarimar Lai service ace.
• (RV) Madonna sealed the four set victory with a 25-12 defeat of St. Thomas.

Bobcat Leaders

• Arianna Bolinger/Amanda Allende: 11 kills
• Kyleigh Beecham: 17 assists
• Kendall Brock: one block

Match Two – St. Thomas (1-2) vs Columbia International University (0-2)
Bobcat Starters: Brock, Chenault, Bolinger, Allende, Beecham, Schlegel – Ridgway and Femat (Libero)

Game Notes

• St. Thomas opened their second match of the day with a 6-1 advantage over Columbia International, capitalizing on five errors by the Rams.
• STU extended the lead to 12-5, following consecutive service aces by Bolinger.
• McKenzie Miholer recorded her first service ace as a Bobcat, giving STU a 21-13 lead.
• The Bobcats closed the first set with a 25-17 victory.
• In the second set, St. Thomas got off to another quick start, jumping out to a 6-1 lead, as Femat recorded consecutive service aces.
• Lai gave the Bobcats a ten-point advantage, 15-5, following a kill.
• The Rams never cut the deficit to within nine, and Allende finished the set victory with a kill to give STU a 25-15 second set victory.
• Allende opened the third set with back-to-back service aces to open a 3-1 advantage, in favor of the Bobcats.
• The third set was the tightest contest of the match, as STU did not claim the lead for good until a Brock kill gave the Bobcats a 17-16 advantage.
• Lai maintained the momentum with consecutive service aces to push the lead to 19-16.
• STU polished off their first victory of the season, in three sets, clinching the victory at 25-22.

MVBobcats

• Bolinger: six kills, two service aces
• Allende: three service aces
• Miholer: ten assists
• Femat: 11 digs

Game Three – St. Thomas (2-2) vs St. Louis College of Pharmacy
Bobcat Starters: Brock, Chenault, Batsel, Bolinger, Allende, Beecham and Femat (Libero)

Game Notes

• The final match-up of the day for St. Thomas opened in highly competitive fashion. The first set was tied at 8-8 following a Bobcat service error but STU responded with a four-point rally, as Chenault capped the run with a kill.
• St. Thomas's four-point advantage quickly dissipated, as the St. Louis College of Pharmacy rallied for five straight to take a 12-13 advantage.
• The Eutectic's extended their lead to 15-18, the largest lead of the set, however, three consecutive points by STU brought the set to even.
• STU claimed the set victory with consecutive points, in win by two (deuce) format in a 26-24 set victory.
• In the second set, St. Thomas could not cut the deficit to less than three, following a rough start. STU dropped the set, 19-25, tying the match at 1-1.
• The Bobcats had to battle in the third set as well, falling behind early, but tying the set at 21-21 following an error.
• Three consecutive SLCOP errors gave STU a 26-25 advantage before Brock finished the set win with a kill.
• St. Thomas maintained the momentum from the thrilling third set win and opened the fourth set with positive momentum, jumping out to a 5-1 advantan 8-2 advantage before SLCOP called a timeout, following consecutive Bollinger kills.
• Back-to-back errors by SLCOP extended the STU lead to 18-6 as the Bobcats were closing in on a tournament split.
• The Eutectics rallied for eight consecutive points, before a Brock kill halted their run and gave STU a 19-14 lead.
• Beechum recorded her first career kill as St. Thomas claimed their second victory of the season, defeating St. Louis College of Pharmacy in the fourth set, 25-18.

MVBobcats

• Bolinger: 20 kills, 18 digs
• Chenault: 11 kills, 0.588 hit percentage, three blocks
• Beecham: 22 assists

Upcoming
St. Thomas travels to Florida Memorial University's Wellness Center to take on the tenth-ranked Eastern Oregon University Mountaineers on Tuesday, August 20th with the match set to begin at 6:00 p.m.