Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Florida Memorial University Athletics

Scoreboard

FMU player
0
Florida Memorial FMUVB21 10-10, 8-6
3
Winner Ave Maria AMUVB21 21-7, 11-3
Florida Memorial FMUVB21
10-10, 8-6
0
Final
3
Ave Maria AMUVB21
21-7, 11-3
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 F
Florida Memorial FMUVB21 18 22 15 (0)
Ave Maria AMUVB21 25 25 25 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | | J.T. Wilcox, Sports Information Director

Florida Memorial WVB Falls To Ave Maria In TSC Tournament Semis

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Not all stories have a feel-good, fairytale ending.
 
Shorthanded but trying to ride a wave of emotional momentum, Florida Memorial University was unable to overcome a strong effort by Ave Maria University and ultimately fell 3-0 (18-25, 22-25, 15-25) to the Gyrenes in the semifinal round of the Sun Conference Volleyball Championship Tournament at St. Thomas University's Fernandez Family Center Friday afternoon.
 
The "10 Strong" Lions, which were an army of nine since Olivia Dodd, a predominant beach volleyball player, was available on the active roster but did not play, saw its lack of depth at key spots catchup to them as they lost their second meeting with Ave Maria this season by a 3-0 sweep.
 
The No. 2 seed Gyrenes will face No. 5 seed College of Coastal Georgia, which upset regular season conference champion and tournament host St. Thomas University in the day's other semifinal matchup, Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. in the Fernandez Family Center.
 
Florida Memorial (10-10, 8-6 The Sun Conference) fell behind early in the first set – dropping into a 10-3 hole – before working its way back into it and cutting AMU's lead to just 17-15 thanks to a handful of kills by Adriana Soto and Biancaliz Cruz and a service ace by Sammyra Albarran. Two would be the closest the Lions would get as the Gyrenes closed the set on an 8-2 run.
 
Friday's second set was the one that upset the proverbial apple cart for the Lions. Florida Memorial appeared ready to tie the match at one as it began to pull away from AMU in the middle of the second set – taking an 11-8 lead after the teams were knotted at eight. The Lions held another three-point advantage – 21-18 – after a Kimberlie Correa kill, but the Gyrenes cut into it again and ultimately tied the set at 22, forcing FMU head coach Marrita Crockett-Moulton to call a timeout.
 
Unfortunately, Ave Maria's momentum had already reached an overreaching level as they continued what ended up as a 7-1 run to take the second set 25-22.
 
The Gyrenes took control early control of the third set, FMU made one last push by cutting its early deficit to one (10-9), but AMU scored five straight to pull away then extended its lead to 10 as it cruised into the final 25-15 margin.
 
Cruz led Florida Memorial with 14 kills Friday. Adriana Soto finished with 11 kills and 13 digs; Agustina Busque had 15 assists; and senior Keisha Santana Roldan ended up with a game-high 18 digs.
 
Friday's ending was the final negative pull of the season that sent the Lions' stack of blocks tumbling to the floor. From the onset of the season, Florida Memorial had to overcome small battles internally – including losing a small handful of players to transfer, missing out on a four-game trip to New Orleans due to a hurricane hitting the Gulf Coast, having to move one of its home matches to an off-campus venue, and dealing with nagging injuries to frontline players throughout the season.
 
FMU was also taxed by an off-court circumstance that was the impetus of its forfeit loss to Ave Maria what would've been regular season finale.
 
Still, the Lions did have some shining moments this season.
 
The team went on a six-game winning streak and held the top spot in the conference standings for a nearly two-week stretch. Florida Memorial also swept its regular season meetings with Keiser University for the first time in program history and knocked the Seahawks out of the postseason tourney for the second consecutive time in as many postseason meetings.
 
FMU also set a new volleyball program record for most players named to the All-Sun Conference First Team in a season (three: Cruz, Correa, and Roldan) and most overall all-conference selections (four).
 
Crockett-Moulton, the first African American female college coach to win conference championships in two different sports (beach volleyball and indoor volleyball), will have to begin a bit of a rebuilding or retooling process for her team as five seniors will graduate off the roster.
 
Even with that bit of pending roster turnover, the Lions could still have a solid core of returners spearheaded by Cruz, Busque, and Soto.
 
Follow Florida Memorial University Athletics on social media
Instagram: @GoFMULions/@FMULionsVolleyball | Twitter: @GoFMULions | YouTube: Official FMU Lions
Print Friendly Version