SAINT LEO, Fla. – Despite placing five hitters in double-figures the Saint Leo volleyball team dropped a 3-2 heartbreaker to Barry University Saturday afternoon inside the Marion Bowman Activities Center. The Buccaneers entered the match having dropped just 10 sets all season but the Lions quickly jumped out to a 2-1 lead and nearly hung on for the victory.
 
The Bucs (20-2, 12-2 SSC) finished with one more kill than the Lions (10-11, 7-6 SSC), three more service aces and four more blocks which was the difference in the back-and-forth match.

"I'm extremely proud of how we competed this afternoon," said interim head coach Erik Peterson. "We had a solid game plan and I think we were able to execute very well at times. Unfortunately, we came up short in the fifth set to a great team, they have a lot of experience and it's easy to see why they're second in conference right now."
 
Freshman Cassandra Kamien once again ran the offense to near perfection as she allowed all five of the Lions top hitters to have 25 or more attacks in the contest. The Lions three outside hitters finished with 50, 41 and 39 attacks each while its two middles posted 26 and 25 attacks in the match. Kamien finished with 56 assists, seven digs and three blocks in the match.
 
Sophomore Ashley Quero led the Lions with 19 kills to go along with two blocks including one solo stop. Junior Victoria Omoregie chipped in 12 kills and three blocks while juniors Anilise Fitzi, Nina Vattovaz and Annabella Arcari all finished with 11 kills in the loss. Vattovaz posted a double-double with 12 digs while Fitzi and Arcari patrolled the net with six and five blocks, respectively.
 
Senior libero Reggie Van Devender was all over the court as she dug up 28 balls and led the team with four service aces. Junior Fabiola Rosado and freshman Payton Bellano finished with double-digit digs as well with 12 and 11, respectively.
 
Megi Buvinic led the Barry attack with 23 kills and 15 digs while Kishara Gordon posted 10 blocks in the contest to lead the defensive effort. Overall the Buccaneers had 16 blocks which forced over 50 percent of the Lions 25 hitting errors for the match.
 
Saint Leo jumped out to a 1-0 lead after winning the opening set 25-23. The Lions had a comfortable lead late but Barry stormed back but it was too little too late as the Lions won the set.  The second set saw the Bucs take over as they claimed the biggest margin of victory of the day at 25-19.


The third set swung the momentum back in the Lions favor as they won 25-22. The fourth set was the closest of the entire match with neither team holding more than a three point lead the entire period. Saint Leo cut the lead to 24-23 late but a final kill closed off the set and forced a decisive fifth set.
 
In the fifth set Saint Leo claimed the early momentum as they used a 5-2 run to take an 8-7 lead at the switch. Following the switch, Barry scored four-straight points to retake the lead and they would hang onto the lead the rest of the way eventually winning the match 15-12.
 
Saint Leo will return to action next Friday and Saturday at the Sunshine State Conference/Gulf South Conference Crossover Tournament in Orlando, Fla. Pairings and match times for the event will be announced in the coming days so stay tuned to SaintLeoLions.com for all the information.
 
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