SAINT LEO, Fla. – Behind a double-double from Nina Vattovaz, No. 24 Saint Leo volleyball took down the visiting Barry Buccaneers in four sets 3-1 (22-25, 25-16, 25-22, 25-20). The Lions moved to 18-5 overall and 12-3 in the Sunshine State Conference after the win to close out the weekend with a 2-0 record.
 
Nina Vattovaz finished the weekend in front of her parents, who are in town from Trieste, Italy, with a double-double with 15 digs and 10 kills. Vattovaz hit a .220 clip Saturday while adding four blocks to her stat line.
 
Ashely Quero tied with Vattovaz for the team lead in kills with 10 on the day. Anna Garrett continued to pace the team from the middle with 40 assists on 126 attempts for a .317 percentage.
 
Jenya Kruglova finished with a match-high 24 digs, ahead of Vattovaz's 15 and Avery Bradshaw's 13.
 
Barry (9-11, 5-10 SSC) won the opening set but dropped the final three to the Lions. The Buccaneers saw three players in double-digit kills led by Kristina Filimonova's 12. Johanna Voss and Jaeda Allen tied for second with 11 kills.
 
Juliana Tirabassi capped her double-double performace with 35 assists and team-high 16 digs. Genesis Castillo and Madison Yarborough tied for second on the team with 12 digs in the four-set match.

Barry 25-22 | The Buccaneers started strong in the first set, flying out to a 4-1 lead on three kills and one ace. The Lions would fight off the deficit and cut it to 15-12 on a Dallas Jasper kill. Avery Bradshaw would check into the set and serve five straight points as the Lions took a 16-15 lead, with two aces forcing a Buccaneers timeout. Out of the timeout, Bradshaw would serve two more Saint Leo points before the Bucs killed it to at 18-16 game. Barry went on a 3-0 run to take a 19-18 lead as the Green and Gold called a timeout. Failing to come back from the three point deficit, Saint Leo dropped the opening set by three to the Bucs.
 
Saint Leo 25-16 | Early in the set, Barry controlled the pace, leading 3-1. The Lions rallied back to take a 4-3 lead and never looked back. Saint Leo would extend their lead to 18-13 before a timeout by Barry. Saint Leo would outscore the Bucs 7-3 to take the second and tie the match at 1-1.

Saint Leo 25-22 | For the third straight set, Barry took the first two points but the Lions gained control quick at 8-4 on five straight Avery Bradshaw serves; four Buccaneer errors and a kill from Dallas Jasper forced Barry to call time. Despite still holding a four point lead, 16-12, three straight errors was all Director of Volleyball Sam Cibrone needed to see before calling his first timeout. Out of the timeout, Saint Leo would maintain their four point margin before the Bucs needed to call time, trailing 22-18. The Lions would go on for the 25-22 win, despite Barry outscoring the Lions 4-3 over the final points of the set.
 
Saint Leo 25-20 | With the 2-1 lead, Saint Leo opened the fourth set with two straight kills from Ashley Quero and Dallas Jasper before claiming a 3-1 lead. The Bucs would rally to tie things at 4-4 before Saint Leo went out to a 14-9 lead on four Barry errors. Saint Leo would continue to press as they moved out to an 18-9 lead on a Quero kill. Barry's Jaeda Allen killed the Lions run with a kill to cut it back to eight, 18-10. Saint Leo would call time at 22-15 before coming out of the timeout and take the match on a service error.
 
Saint Leo returns to the court when it hosts Eckerd on Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. in the Marion Bowman Activities Center.  
 
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