Women's Volleyball | Nov 20, 2017

SAINT LEO, Fla. – The No. 23 Saint Leo volleyball team will be making their fifth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance after a 22-6, 16-4 Sunshine State Conference season. The Lions, who maintained their fifth-seed in the South Region will head to Lakeland to face fourth-seeded North Alabama in the NCAA South Regional hosted by No. 1 seed Florida Southern. 
 
Making their fifth-straight appearance, the Lions have gone the distance in each of their knock-out match. In 2013, the Lions and Florida Southern Moccasins went to five-sets, where the Green and Gold fell 3-2. In 2014, Saint Leo fell to Valdosta State 3-2 before picking up a 3-0 sweep in 2015 against West Florida to open play in the NCAA tournament. Following their win, the Lions met host, Palm Beach Atlantic, and dropped a five-set thriller to PBA. In 2016, no. 2 seed Saint Leo fell to Florida Southern 3-2, eliminating the Lions from the tournament for the fourth straight season in a 3-2 match.  
 
"Making the tournament for the fifth-straight year is attributed to my great assistant coaches and our players effort," Director of Volleyball Sam Cibrone stated Monday night. "We are blessed to have some great people and players in the Green and Gold."
 
With the Moccasins hosting, it broke the two-year streak the Sailfish were hosts as Florida Southern finished with a 23-1 record in region play.
 
Saint Leo finished with a 22-6 mark overall while holding a 16-4 record inside Sunshine State Conference play. Against top-25 opponents, the Lions finished with a 2-2 record having defeated then-No. 7 Minnesota Duluth (3-1) on Sept. 2, and then-No. 3 Palm Beach Atlantic (3-2) on Oct. 27.
 
Against the top 10 teams in the South Region, the Lions posted a 5-5 record adding two wins against Tampa and Eckerd to their win PBA. The top five teams in the South Region hold a 4-1 record against the Lions as the Green and Gold took down PBA for their lone win.
 
Earlier this season, the North Alabama Lions and the Saint Leo Lions faced off where the match went in favor of North Alabama, 3-2. Saint Leo won the opening two sets, 25-21, 25-21 before dropping the last three, 25-14, 26-24, 15-9.
 
Cibrone mentioned, "Our conference play is awesome and as a staff we feel it prepares us for moments like this. You can never take a day off during the season which makes you very prepared for the NCAA tournament. We have to bring it everyday in conference play, and you have to bring it everyday in the tournament."
 
The Lions will be joined in Lakeland with host Florida Southern, Palm Beach Atlantic, West Florida, North Alabama, Tampa, Eckerd, and Kentucky State. Dates and times will be announced later. 
 
For the latest news, updates, and information on the Saint Leo volleyball be sure to visit SaintLeoLions.com.  Fans can also stay up-to-date on the latest Lions news by following Saint Leo Athletics on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.