MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (October 18, 2023) - It was a defensive show for the no. 23 St. Thomas Volleyball team (18-2, 9-0 SUN) as they collect their 13th consecutive win over crosstown rival Florida Memorial (3-9, 1-7 SUN) in the Fernandez Family Center Gym. This ties the win streak record for the Bobcats in the Battoe era.

STU swept the Lions 25-22, 25-8, 25-14, for the second time this seal. To sweep the series matchup. The Bobcats are 18-0 this season when winning the first set. 

After a fast start at 5-0 it was quickly brought to a halt for St. Thomas as the back row went three straight games without being aced coming into tonight and then surrendered three in the first set. With the help of some service aces on the Bobcat end, STU was able to stay in the set and eventually take it with a 3-0 rally to end it.

Set two saw a big switch as St. Thomas locked in and dominated the set. The defense came up big with six blocks in the set holding the Lions to a -.278 hit percentage. The offense also came alive hitting an impressive .579 clip.

Set three was a steady paced set as STU strolled past the Lions 25-14. 

Sana Dennis led the charge with a career high nine blocks. She also added six kills on 11 attempts to hit .545. Alexandra MacAskill had a standout performance herself hitting .500 with seven kills on 14 attempts and no attacking errors while adding 11 digs. 

Amanda Allende led the way in the match in kills at 12. The graduate stepped up defensively with four blacks and eight digs. Bianca Grassi had 12 digs in the contest as she was not contested much in the FMU attack. The libero had three service aces. 

Payton Bertke brought the spark with 28 assists, two kills, a service ace, and three blocks.

As a team, the Bobcats had double the kills then the lions 40-20 and out-blocked them 11-2.

St. Thomas will now look ahead to their matchup against the Fir of Southeastern on Homecoming, Saturday, October 21 from the FFC Gym at 2 p.m.

-STU-