Miami Gardens, Fla. – On a night meant to honor the 14th ranked St. Thomas University Women's Volleyball Team, Tayla Barnes, Carolina Cruz, Aleksandra Ivanovic and Fabiana Mucciola all shined for the Bobcats in their 3-0 (25-29, 25-16, 25-15) victory over Florida National on Friday afternoon.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: #14 St. Thomas 3, Florida National 0
Records: #14 St. Thomas (21-4), Florida National (13-14)
All-Time Series: STU leads 10-3


HOW IT HAPPENED: 

• After trading the initial 34 points of the match, the Bobcats used a 6-0 run to take a 23-17 lead before trading 2-0 spurts to end the first set.
• STU pulled ahead early in the second set behind a pair of 4-0 sprees sandwiching a FNU tally to create an 11-4 score and kept the lead above five for the rest of the stanza.
• Trailing early in the third set 6-4, St. Thomas flipped the advantage off a 6-0 run and held the visitors to a .000 hitting percentage for the frame to end the match.

 
NOTEWORTHY:

• Cruz paced the offense using 13 kills on a .444 hitting percentage on top of eight digs.
• Tayla Barnes boasted 10 kills on a .391 clip with two service aces and two blocks (one solo, one assisted)
• Mucciola anchored the defense with 16 digs.
• Ivanovic assisted on two blocks alongside one solo block.
• Payton Bertke dished out 32 assists.

 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

• The Bobcats ended the match with 40 kills on a .316 hitting percentage, Florida National tallied 30 on a .101 clip.
• STU served eight aces while the visitor logged five.
• St. Thomas recorded three solo blocks and six assisted blocks versus two assisted for FNU.
• The Bobcats held a 43-40 advantage in digs

 
 
UP NEXT:
The Bobcats begin the final week of the 2025 regular season with a road trip to Ave Maria on Wednesday, Nov. 5 with first serve set for 7:00 pm