MIAMI SHORES, Fla. -- The Saint Leo University volleyball team battled Barry in Sunshine State Conference action Friday night, but fell short in a 3-2 loss. Anna Siruckova had a career night with a career high 23 kills.
The Basics
Final Score: Barry defeated Saint Leo 3-2, (25-20, 21-25, 16-25, 25-21, 15-12).
Location: Health & Sports Center, Miami Shores, Fla.
Records: Saint Leo 6-4, 1-2 SSC | BU 3-3, 1-1 SSC
How It Happened
- Anna Siruckova turned in her best performance as a Lion thanks to 23 kills and a .365 attack percentage. The Czech Republic native only had four errors on 52 attempts, taking one-third of the teams' total swings.
- The match proved to be a back and forth battle that included 39 ties and 23 lead changes in a five set match.
- Set 1 | The Bucs jumped to an early lead but Saint Leo battled back from a 4-1 deficit to tie the game. The pair exchanged points before the Lions took their own 12-8 lead thanks to Britt Sederholm at the service line. The junior went back to serve on a Barry error and delivered an ace to spark a four point run. Saint Leo remained ahead but like a gnat, the Bucs wouldn't go away. Barry tied the match at 17-17, and back-to-back kills by Katie Dooley gave the Bucs a lead they would never relinquish as Barry would go on to win the first set 25-20.
- Set 2 | The Lions defense picked up in the second set, thanks to Jillian Stolzenburg blocking at the net. A solo block by the senior middle at 17-16, shifted the momentum in the Lions favor. Two points later a double block by Katie Adamson and Hope Lemon propelled the Lions to a 25-21 victory. Saint Leo also had its highest kill total in the second set, collecting 14 kills.
- Set 3 | After the break, a re-energized Lions squad took the court and handled the Bucs with ease. There were only three ties early in the set, but Saint Leo took a 6-5 lead and never looked back. Saint Leo's pinhitters combined for eight of the squads 12 kills. Siruckova collected four kills in the third, without a single error. Stolzenburg notched four of her 11 in the third set.
- Set 4 | Saint Leo continued to feed off the momentum of a 2-1 match lead, but a late run by the Bucs gave Barry a 25-21 win. Barry hitters terminated a match-high 18 kills and hit .350 as a team.
- Set 5 | The fifth and final set belonged to Barry. The Bucs never trailed after jumping to a 3-0 lead.
- Ashlee Hodgskin dished out 47 assists, for her fifth 40+ assist performance this season. The senior also added eight digs and one kill.
- Jamee Townsend collected 19 digs, for her third consecutive 14+ dig performance, her eighth of the year. Townsend also notched five assists.
- The Lions collected 65 digs, their third highest total of the season. Lemon added 16 digs, while Sederholm added 10.
- Freshman Avery Bradshaw collected eight kills and five digs.
Beyond the Box score
- Lemon's 16 digs is a career high, and just the fourth time this season the junior reached double-digit digs.
- Townsend has paced the Lions defensively in all but two matches this season.
- Stolzenburg's 11 kills is just one shy of her season high 12 kills which she has reached twice (vs. #3 SMSU and Eckerd).
- The Lions collected 56 kills in five sets, just 11.2 kills per set. Saint Leo averages 13.36 kills per set, which until Friday night's match led the Sunshine State Conference.
- Barry now leads the all-time series 38-8.
For the Buccaneers
- Libero Brittany Jaco, who leads NCAA Division II with 6.65 digs per set, led the match with 21 digs.
- The Bucs bested the Lions in digs 75-65, and had five different athletes reach double-digit digs. Kat Espinosa followed with 15, Jasmine Serna and Jenny Trinidad each chipped in with 12, while Kaitlin Drake added 10 digs.
- Drake was the only double-double performance of the night thanks to a 20 kill, 10 dig performance.
Up next
- Saint Leo remains on the road for non conference action with a matchup at Palm Beach Atlantic on Saturday, Sept. 26.
- The Lions return to Marion Bowman October 2. After three matches on the road, Saint Leo will host Florida Tech.
