MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (September 14, 2019) - St. Thomas University (4-6, 1-1 TSC) defeated Sun Conference opponent, Southeastern University (7-3, 1-1 TSC) 3-2 (29-31, 25-20, 29-31, 25-23 and 16-14) in a thrilling, five-set match on Saturday afternoon from the Fernandez Family Center.

• In the second Sun Conference match of the season, St. Thomas looked to earn their first win and bounce back from a mid-week defeat to Florida Memorial University on Wednesday, September 11.
• The Bobcats and Fire went back-and-forth for much of the first set, a Bolinger kill brought the set to 11-10, as neither team could generate separation.
• Trailing 13-17, midway through the set, STU rallied for five consecutive kills as: Allende, Brock, Vavan and Bolinger all added kills to give STU an 18-17 lead.
• The Bobcats needed one point to seal the set victory, but an error prevented the set win and sent the first set to "win by two" extra points.
• Southeastern claimed the first set, winning 31-29.
• Following a timeout early in the second set, STU rallied for three consecutive points to tie the set at 4-4, following a Carli Batsel kill.
• STU once again rallied for four points, as Batsel led the way with another kill, before three SEU errors forced a Fire timeout with STU leading 8-6.
• Brock led a sustained rally for St. Thomas, adding two kills as part of a seven point run by the Bobcats to claim a 21-16 lead.
• St. Thomas finished the set with a 25-20 victory as a Bolinger kill tied the match at 1-1.
• STU trailed 18-24 in the third set, before freshman, Amanda Allende led a drastic comeback.
• Allende started the comeback with a kill, before serving and leading STU to six consecutive points to take a 25-24 advantage.
• Allende recorded three points during the run, including two service aces.
• SEU survived the fevered STU rally, winning the third set, 29-31.
• Allende opened the fourth set with three straight points for the Bobcats, all on kills to tie the set at 4-4.
• Following a Chenault kill to put STU down 18-20, St. Thomas called a timeout. STU responded with three of the next five points, to only trail 21-22 and force a Fire timeout.
• STU rallied once again for four straight points, as freshman: Allende, Beecham and Dani Femat led the comeback, with Femat serving to tie the match at 2-2 and set the TSC match-up to a fifth set tiebreaker.
• Southeastern led 10-7 in the final set as STU rallied for five consecutive points, led by back-to-back kills by Bolinger and Chenault, as well as a Batsel killed gave STU a 12-10 advantage.
• Southeastern tied the match at 14-14 following an error as the match would be decided in extra points for the third time.
• Senior captain, Batsel, added another kill to her total getting STU the late lead at 15-14.
• Femat sealed a thrilling victory with a service ace, as St. Thomas completed a dramatic victory in the final set.

MVBobcats
Arianna Bolinger: 24 kills (career-high), 14 digs
Tyran Chenault: 16 kills, 0.609 attack percentage
Amanda Allende: 17 kills
Kyleigh Beecham: 61 assists, eight kills
Dani Femat: five service aces
 
Upcoming
St. Thomas continues Sun Conference action with a trip to West Palm Beach to play Keiser University on Wednesday, September 18.
-STU-