MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (October 6, 2021) – The St. Thomas University (STU) Volleyball team (11-5, 5-1 SUN) sweep the Florida Memorial University Lions (6-4, 5-1 SUN) in the first match-up between the teams this season. St. Thomas took the match in three sets 26-24, 25-19, and 25-20 from the FMU Wellness Center in the Sun Conference Match of the Week. Both teams are now tied for the top spot in the SUN standings.
 
Bobcat Starters
Tyran Chenault
Sana Dennis
Arianna Bolinger
Kyleigh Beecham
Mya Thomas
Loreto Nunez-Casal
Bianca Grassi – libero
 
Match Notes

• St. Thomas holds the overall record over Florida Memorial 22-4.
• This is the fifth Sun Conference sweep for the Bobcats, going 15-3 in sets in conference play this season.
• The Bobcats started out the match on a 8-2 run setting the tone early in set one.
• Florida Memorial worked their way back into set tying it up at 23 all.
• St. Thomas had a big kill from Tyran Chenault and ultimately took set one on a Lion attacking error.
• The Lions committed 10 errors in the first set on 42 attempts while hitting .071 as team.
• Set Two started strong for the Bobcats once again as Mya Thomas recorded a service ace to get the first point of the set.
• This set was much  closer at the beginning until the Bobcats started scoring two points for every one FMU point.
• St. Thomas took advantage of four straight Florida Memorial errors to give themselves cushion taking a 24-18 lead.
• Loreto Nunez-Casal put away the final point of the second set to give STU the 2-0 match lead.
• The hitting game bumped up a notch in the second set as STU hit .333 and FMU hit .206.
• Set Three was all adversity as the Bobcats had to make play their way back into it.
• After the Lions took a 18-16 lead, St. Thomas locked in to score seven straight points scoring even after a Lion timeout that was used to cut into the Bobcat momentum.
• St. Thomas made their way back and took a 23-18 lead.
• The Bobcats outscored the Lions 9-2 in the final stretch to complete the three-set sweep.
• The offense stayed consistent closing out the third set with a .333 hitting percentage and holding Florida Memorial to .243.
• St. Thomas also held the FMU defense to just one block, the lowest blocks in a match for the Lions this season.
• The Bobcat defense picked up six-blocks on the night led by Chenault's four.
• Chenault had nine-kills and four blocks to lead the way for STU.
• Amanda Allende also tallied nine-kills while hitting .200 off the bench.
• Bolinger and Nunez- Casal had six-kills apiece to round out the offense.
• Bobcat libero Bianca Grassi recorded 19 digs, none of which were cheap pick-ups, absorbing top spin serves and keeping multiple plays alive to convert into points.
• Kyleigh Beecham and Mia Thomas continue to split the setter role  in a six-two rotation, totaling 29-assists between the two.
• Melanie Chiquillo was an instrumental player off the bench and into the backline joining Grassi and Mia Thomas to hold down the defense and keep the ball in play for the offense to do their job.
• Chiquillo recorded what was one of the most insane play savers hitting a free ball the just grazed over the net into play to keep the ball alive.

 
Up Next
St. Thomas will have a quick turnaround in a three-match week to take on Florida College in non-conference action on Thursday, October 7 at 5 p.m. from the Fernandez Family Center. The Bobcats will then travel to Lakeland, Fla. on Saturday to take on the Fire of Southeastern University in league action from The Furnace with first serve scheduled for 2 p.m. Both matches can be found on The Sun Digital Network.