FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The past two Shark Invitationals have been kind to the Saint Leo volleyball team, where the Lions went 4-0 on the weekend for the second straight season with a 2-0 Saturday including a 3-1 win over No. 7 Minnesota Duluth to end the 10th Annual Shark Invitational. 
 
Saint Leo (4-0) took down Post in the morning matchup in three straight sets (25-14, 25-16, 25-16) before defeating No. 7 Minnesota Duluth in four (25-15, 19-25, 25-20, 26-24) in the afternoon. The Lions as a team put down 90 kills on .386 clip for the day.
 
Victoria Omoregie led the way with 19 kills where Ashley Quero, Annabella Arcari, and Nina Vattovaz added double-digit kills as well. Quero added 18, Arcari 17 and Vattovaz with 15. Anna Garrett racked up 68 assists on the day with 44 against the Bulldogs in the afternoon game.
 
Jenya Kruglova led the defensive charge with 20 digs where Reggie Van Devender added 15. Van Devender tallied five aces on the day with three against Post and two against Minnesota Duluth.
 
Vattovaz and Omoregie joined Kruglova and Van Devender in double-digit digs on the day with 16 and 10, respectively.
 
In Saint Leo's 3-1 upset over No. 7 Minnesota Duluth, Quero, Omoregie, Vattovaz and Arcari were all in double-digit kills with 13, 12, 10, and 10, respectively. Kruglova racked up 11 digs against the Bulldogs where Van Devender tallied seven.
 
In the first set, Saint Leo opened on a 5-0 run, including three service aces from the freshman Ashley Quero. The Lions continued to push their margin, extending it to 10-2 and 17-3 before the Bulldogs scored back-to-back points making it a 17-5 game. Saint Leo went on to win 25-15, making a statement that they can play with the Bulldogs.
 
Minnesota Duluth bounced back and took set two, but the Lions wouldn't go down easy, 25-19 in favor of the Bulldogs. In the pivotal third set, the Lions took the win 25-20 after trailing early 7-3. The Lions rallied back to tie it 10-10 before pushing the gap to 17-12. Minnesota Duluth would close to within two, 20-18, before Saint Leo closed it out 25-20.
 
In the final set, Saint Leo charged out to a 10-5 lead before the Bulldogs climbed back into it with five straight points taking a 21-20 lead. The Lions put the flame out quick with a kill from Annabella Arcari before taking a two point lead, 24-22. An attack error on the Lions pushed the score even, before back-to-back errors on the Bulldogs gave the Lions the win, 26-24.
 
In the Lions' first match of the day, Saint Leo spread the ball well seeing five hitters with five or more kills. Victoria Omoregie and Annabella Arcari led the way with seven apiece where Ashley Quero, Dallas Jasper and Nina Vattovaz each had five.
 
Anna Garrett led the team with 24 assists where Maddy Powell picked up seven. Defensively, Vattovaz led the team with 12 digs where Jenya Kruglova added nine and Reggie Van Devender tallied eight.
 
The Lions' serving against Post was on point where they notched 10 service aces led by Van Devender with three. Quero, Vattovaz, and Garrett each had two where Kruglova had the other ace.
 
Saint Leo defeated the Eagles in straight sets 25-14, 25-16, and 25-16 to move to 3-0. The Lions attack was even where they put down 13-14-13 kills in consecutive sets to finish with a total of 40 kills on a .240 clip.
 
The Lions return home to open their home portion of the schedule when they host the 2017 Saint Leo Volleyball Tournament in the Marion Bowman Activities Center on Sept. 8-9. Saint Leo welcomes in Nova Southeastern, Truman State, Sioux Falls (S.D.), West Texas A&M, and Montevallo for a six team tournament. Saint Leo will play Montevallo at 1 p.m. and West Texas A&M at 7:30 p.m.
 
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.