MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (November 18, 2022) – The wait is over, St. Thomas University Volleyball (19-5) is heading back to the NAIA National Tournament for the first time since 2003. The Bobcats clinched the automatic berth for the Sun Conference winning the tournament championship. This will be the programs fifth appearance in the national tournament (last four-1996-97-01-03).
 
 
How We Got Here
In what almost was not, St. Thomas took a reverse sweep victory in the Sun Conference semifinals over Southeastern taking it in five sets. After being down to just their last set, St. Thomas turned it around and punched their ticket to the tournament championship to have a date with Keiser who upset Ave Maria in the semifinals. STU used their five-set victory momentum to settle in and take a dominant sweep of the Seahawks in three straight sets. The Bobcats claimed their first title since 2003.
 
Cornerstone is in their seventh national tournament appearance they earned an automatic bid winning the WHAC Regular Season title. The Golden Eagles also swept both their conference regular season and tournament tiles. CU is 32-3 on the season and come into this match on a 32-match win streak. After falling in their first three matches on the season, two of which to ranked opponents, The Golden Eagles turned around and have not lost since. They went 20-0 in conference actions and are 17-0 at home on the year.
 
 
Match Up
St. Thomas recently played Cornerstone flying to Grand Rapids, Mich. just last season to play in a preseason tournament. The Bobcats swept the Golden Eagles in three sets to claim the victory. Cornerstone comes in ranked #20 in the nation while the St. Thomas is among those receiving votes.
 
 
STU Key Players
Amanda Allende had a stellar season as one of the conference top attackers. Allende has 272 kills so far for a 3.40 kills per set average, good for third in the conference. Allende will be a big key to the offense as she has been the one to have the clutch gene for the Bobcats this season taking matters into her own hands and picking up the big kills when needed. The senior also has 24 service aces with a difficult top spin jump serve. Allende is a dual threat playing all six rotations helping out in the back row and collecting 202 digs for a 2.43 set average.
 
Bianca Grassi as mentioned earlier is the heart of the defense collecting 502 digs for a 5.64 set average, good for top-15 in the NAIA. Grassi is the key to keeping plays alive and giving STU an opportunity on offense. With a .964 reception average, Grassi takes a load of the big hits and delivers on incredible digs putting everything on the line to keep the ball alive and playable for STU.
 
Isadora Tavares and Mia Thomas split the setter role on the 6-2 rotation for St. Thomas. Tavares was a two-time setter of the week for the conference and has 535 assists on the season. The junior from Sao Paulo, Brazil also has 130 digs collecting two double-doubles. Thomas has 388 assists so far for a 5.04 set average.
 
Sana Dennis and Tayla Barnes run the middle with over 50 blocks each. Dennis leads the team with 66 blocks, 13 solo and 53 assists. Barnes is right behind with 50 blocks, 21 solo 29 assists. Dennis has 140 kills on the year and is hitting .354 while Barnes has 97 kills and a .299 average.
 
Alexandra MacAskill glues it all together doing a little bit of everything. MacAskill is second in kills with 210 and hitting .251 while also third in blocks with 47, 18 solo 29 assists.
 
Game Information
Location – Grand Rapids, Mich.
Arena - Mol Arena
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