Miami Gardens, Fla. – On a night that started with honoring the senior class that propelled the Volleyball program into national contenders, the 10th-ranked St. Thomas Bobcats further solidified the legacies of Melanie Chiquillo, Sana Dennis, Hope Leavy-Gaskins, Bianca Grassi and Maria Eduarda Ferreira Ramos with a school-record fourth-straight Sun Conference Regular Season title following a 3-0 (25-15, 25-15, 25-12) sweep of Ave Maria.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: #10 St. Thomas 3, Ave Maria 0
Records: #10 St. Thomas (27-0, 13-0 Sun Conference), Ave Maria (4-18, 4-9 Sun Conference)
All-Time Series: St. Thomas leads 29-6

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Set 1 – STU scored the opening two points and never trailed in the first set, holding the Gyrenes without a run greater than two during the stanza.
• Set 2 – The Bobcats responded to a second-set opening point by Ave Maria with five-straight, fending off the visitors after a 4-0 run made it 8-6 to keep the lead which they maintained for the duration of the frame.
• Set 3 – St. Thomas used a 6-0 run early in the third set to pull ahead 10-5, extending their lead to double-digits late at 19-9 behind a 5-0 run.

NOTEWORTHY:

• Dennis boasted 13 kills on a .524 clip while adding three service aces, all coming on the final three points of the night, and three digs.
•  Tayla Barnes added eight kills on a .500 clip with two assisted blocks and one solo block.
• Bianca Grassi tallied 16 digs.
• Payton Bertke dished out 33 assists on top of five kills and five digs.

 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

• STU finished the match with 48 kills on a .314 hitting percentage versus 25 kills on a .133 clip for the Gyrenes.
• St. Thomas served six aces.
• The Bobcats logged one solo block and four assisted blocks, AMU recorded two solo and four assisted.
• STU held a 43-34 advantage in digs.

UP NEXT:
The Bobcats conclude the 2024 regular season on Saturday, Nov. 9 at Southeastern with first serve set for 2 p.m.