WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (September 21, 2022) - St. Thomas University (STU) Women's Volleyball team (6-4, 2-1 SUN) took down receiving votes Keiser University (21-4, 2-1 SUN) in Sun Conference action on Wednesday evening. This marks the first loss for the Seahawks in league action in 2022.

Resilient would be the only word to describe the Bobcat performance last night against the Seahawks. After trailing in nearly every set, St. Thomas found a way to work back into it and finish it off in the end.

Set one had Keiser run off on a 9-3 start to open the match. A timeout would help spark the offense to be more controlled and rally back four straight points to bring the match at 9-8. Each team would trade of points as STU looked to tied the match and later hop the hump and gain the lead. A service ace from Isadora Tavares would do just that for the Bobcats tied at 18 all.

The set would later be tied at each point from 18 to 23. Amanda Allende would seal the deal for set one with one of 21 kills for the senior. It was a fairly clean set with just two service errors and each team hit over .200.

Set two saw a similar run off with Keiser taking an early lead taking it 13-8. The Seahawks maintained a healthy four point lead deep into the set. That would not stop the Bobcats, down 21-17, a big block from Sana Dennis and Alexandra MacAskill would tie it up at 21 all. Melanie Chiquillo came up with a big service ace to gain the momentum and lead at 23-22. MacAskill would have the final say with a kill to close out set two and give the Bobcats a two set advantage.

Now just one set away from victory, Keiser would show so fight and not go down easy. The Seahawks pushed for five sets take a commanding set three at 25-16 and tough set four at 27-25; forcing a winner take all set five.

In a set where momentum was key, the Bobcats picked up the first point in the fifth set on a kill from Mariana Cova. Keiser would then rally once again early and take a 4-1 lead. A couple of Seahawks errors coupled with kills from Allende and Tayla Barnes would bring things even at four all. The teams traded points with St. Thomas in advantage. As STU started to space out, KU would work their way back into as the Bobcats did many times in the first two sets.

A timeout called from Coach Whitney Battoe would set up the next two points as Hope Leavy-Gaskins came in and closed the match out as STU took set five 15-13.

#MVBobcats
Amanda Allende: season high 21-kills, seven digs, .348 hit percentage (seventh time in double digit kills this season)
Alexandra MacAskill: season-high 16 kills, .387 hit percentage, four block assist
Tayla Barnes: career high eight blocks (four solo) six kills
Bianca Grassi: career-high 42 digs, service ace
Isadora Tavares: season-high 36 assists, service ace, five digs

Box Score Notables

• Four Bobcats in double figures for kills (Allende, MacAskill, Cova, Leavy-Gaskins)
• Seven Bobcats recorded career-highs
• First time since 2019 that the Bobcats offense records 75-plus kills