ORLANDO, Fla. – The Saint Leo volleyball team opened up play at the South Region Crossover in Orlando, Fla. Friday night with an impressive 3-0 sweep of the University of West Georgia. The Wolves were coming off a 3-1 victory over Nova Southeastern earlier in the day but the Lions proved to be to much.
 
Junior Nina Vattovaz and sophomore Ashley Quero led the offensive attack for Saint Leo as they finished with 14 and 10 kills, respectively. Vattovaz added eight digs while Quero had a pair of blocks. Junior Annabella Arcari came close to double-digits with eight kills and four blocks while junior Anilise Fitzi chipped in six kills and a team-high five blocks.

"I was really impressed with how the team got after it in the gym this week," said interim head coach Erik Peterson. "We were able to put together two strong matches and they were a little unhappy with the outcome of last Saturday's match so everyone had a little extra in the tank this week. We worked on implementing some things and tweaking a few others and I think we executed extremely well tonight."
 
Reigning Sunshine State Conference Setter of the Week Cassandra Kamien lived up to her title with 31 assists, nine digs and three blocks. Kamien tied with freshman Payton Bellano and senior Reggie Van Devender for the digs lead with nine.
 
Saint Leo (11-11) came out of the gates strong and improved every set. The Lions won the opening stanza 25-19 before taking set two 25-16 and set three 25-14. West Georgia (11-9) hit just .124 as a team and did not have a single double-digit kill performance.
 
Saint Leo will return to action tomorrow at 12:15 as they battle No. 12 West Florida who dropped just its fifth match of the year as the Argonauts fell to Florida Southern 3-0 to open their crossover play. The Lions will have a nightcap at 7 p.m. against Lee University.
 
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.