SAINT LEO, Fla. – The Saint Leo volleyball team showed their grit on Friday evening as they took down Sunshine State Conference foe Rollins, 3-2; 25-22, 21-25, 20-25, 25-18, 15-13, in a nail-biter of a match in the Marion Bowman Activities Center.

The Lions used the energy that was in the building for their first home match of the season to jump out to a 25-20 win following 16 kill outing in the first set. Senior Hope Lemon led the way with six kills in the opener and helped guide the Lions.

Over the next two sets, Rollins had their way with the ball, siding out at 71-percent of the time in the second and third sets. The Tars held the Lions to .062-percent hitting in the second and .098-percentage in the third.

The Lions rebounded in the fourth set, putting down 13 kills on an improved clip of .222. Sophomore Avery Bradshaw was impressive in the set, putting down five kills in just three digs, while not committing an error. Freshman Annabella Arcari was also errorless in the set, putting down four kills on six attempts. Saint Leo capitalized on an impressive set to take the fourth, 25-18 and built momentum heading into the fifth and deciding set.

In the fifth set, the Lions jumped out a 7-3 lead, but the Tars battled back, bringing the score to 7-6. The Lions used a kill from junior Britt Sederholm to make it 8-6, and they never relented. The Lions put down nine kills and used a 57-sideout-percentage to take the final set, 15-13.

Saint Leo saw Bradshaw put down a career-high and a team-high 16 kills, adding eight digs and an ace. She was aided by 13 kills from Arcari, who used a .440-hitting percentage to help dissect the Tars defense. Arcari added three blocks as well.

Setters Maddy Powell and Anna Garrett split time in the role, with Powell playing the first three sets, and Garrett came in at the end of the third and closed out the match. Powell finished with 28 assists, four kills, and five digs, while Garrett added 25 assists, a dig, and an ace.

Defensively, senior Jamee Townsend tallied 26 digs and added two service aces. Townsend is now just 41 digs from 1,000 career digs.  Sederhom added 16 digs, and nine kills. Jenya Kruglova added 10 digs as well.

The Lions return to action on Saturday, Sept. 24 at 4 p.m. with a home match versus Embry-Riddle.

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.