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Florida Memorial University Athletics

Scoreboard

FMU players
David Badia | SportsMediaDB
2
Florida Memorial FMUVB21 9-8, 8-5
3
Winner St. Thomas STUVB21 20-6, 11-2
Florida Memorial FMUVB21
9-8, 8-5
2
Final
3
St. Thomas STUVB21
20-6, 11-2
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
Florida Memorial FMUVB21 25 32 20 20 8 (2)
St. Thomas STUVB21 15 30 25 25 15 (3)

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

Shorthanded Lions WVB Falls At St. Thomas University Wednesday

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Shorthanded due to injuries, Florida Memorial University puts its moxie on full display Wednesday night, jumping out to a two-set lead, before falling to host St. Thomas University 3-2 (25-15, 32-30, 20-25, 20-25, 8-15) in the Sun Conference Game of the Week.
 
Wednesday's match, the second meeting in the volleyball chapter of the "Battle of Miami Gardens", also carried lofty postseason implications. For the Lions, the loss – coupled with the loss by Southeastern University Wednesday – cements their spot as the No. 3 team in the Sun Conference standings. As the third-seed, Florida Memorial will host the sixth-seed team in the first round of the TSC postseason tournament next week.
 
St. Thomas University stayed perched atop the conference standings with its victory and clinched the regular season conference championship (best regular season conference record). As the No. 1 seed, STU will receive a bye into the semifinals of the TSC tourney and will be the host school for the semifinal and championship rounds.
 
Wednesday's result in Miami Gardens also affected Ave Maria University. Because St. Thomas knocked off FMU and the Gyrenes also earned a victory Wednesday, AMU clinched the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye.
 
The Lions (9-8, 8-5 The Sun Conference) looked poised to pull off what some would've called an upset with its performance in the first two sets of the night. FMU, which will host Ave Maria this coming Friday as it celebrates its Senior Night, turned a 6-5 first-set lead over St. Thomas into a 12-6 lead – thanks to a couple of Bobcats errors and a pair of kills from Maria Rodriguez – and ultimately cruised to a 25-15 win.
 
The second set saw Florida Memorial fall into a 9-2 deficit before battling back to close the gap before tying the game at 18. The teams stayed locked together, almost alternating points past the typical 25-point threshold until they were knotted at 30. FMU secured the final two points of the set, a crafty point by Agustina Busque and a kill by Biancaliz Cruz, to pick up a 32-30 win and 2-0 lead.
 
Three different FMU players finished with double-digit kill totals Wednesday. Senior Taira Cottingham finished with a team-high 13 kills, Cruz was right behind with 12 kills, and Sammyra Albarran recorded 11.
 
Busque lead the team in assists, as she has in almost every game this season, racking 24 assists. Senior setter Alanis Santana finished with 18 assists. Senior libero Keiser Santana Roldan, who returned to the Lions' lineup after missing the past game with a lower extremity injury, led the team with 14 digs.
 
The marathon set might have been a bit of FMU's undoing, however.
 
St. Thomas (20-6, 11-2) jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the third set and was able to stave of the Lions to take the third 25-20. The fourth set followed a similar tenor – with the Bobcats jumping out early (6-0) and holding off a mid-game rally attempt to settle into a 25-20 win.
 
The momentum had swung in the Bobcats' favor heading into the deciding fifth set, and it showed as St. Thomas jumped out to an 8-3 lead on FMU. Errors mounted as fatigue set in for the Lions as STU's lead grew to its final seven-point (15-8) margin.
 
Follow Florida Memorial University Athletics on social media
Instagram: @GoFMULions/@FMULionsVolleyball | Twitter: @GoFMULions | YouTube: Official FMU Lions
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